The Frog Journal

So, it's come to this. You're really going to make me do this, Vocal challengers? I wasn't going to enter this one, thinking I had burned all bridges to that mythical First self-driven scribble. But wait. I knew very well I had that green journal I wrote passionately in for about a week in February when I was nine, buried somewhere. Happened to be in a duffel-bag under my bed, so now I guess we're going to need to muster our patience and let a writer under thirteen Vocalize here. If only in spirit. I will provide a running commentary, not changing names and places, and it can serve as a Getting-to-Know Me piece, for those curious.

TRIGGER WARNING: This kid can seriously go on about frogs. What starts out as a journal, digresses into uncontrolled chain recollection. Beware.

Feb 14, 1996

We moved to Utah on a Monday. After all the packing our stuff in the Ryder truck, we finally went in the truck and car. A few minutes latter, we saw the ramp slide out of the back of the yellow truck. "Dad! The ramp is out!" we screamed. It took a while for him to here. he walked out of the truck and slide it back in. We started going again. We whent through the Deliware Water Gap. It was beutiful! A few times we saw deer. Then when we came to Ohio it got pretty flat! Actualy, very flat! In Chicogo we got lost. Dad thout we lost mom so he started to panic (for nothing) and he backed up and crashed into mom! but he still did not know why what he crashed into. then he saw her car. "What are you doing!" she yelled.

This move across the country in a single station-wagon and a "Ryder" truck was really something. It meant hauling all our possessions, three kids and three cats, as well as an iguana, a box-turtle, an aquarium of anoles and frogs, for thousands of miles. What a menagerie for two ex addicts trying to build a middle-class life! The money my grandmother left us when she died allowed my parents to invest in getting out of the Trenton slums and finding something more family friendly. How did my parents bear this zoo? Still, to me it was beutiful. Well actually, very flat!

Feb 15, 1996

When we got to Utah we had to stay at a hotel because the apartments were not opened on Sundays. That morning we ate at the resturant at the hotel. It was an omlet. Then we made our way to Goldstone Place. The apartment had a pool and hot tub. I live at Goldstone place rigt now.

Gee kid, and you won spelling-bees. No one's perfect though.

Feb 16, 1996--at school

A month after we moved , on a Saturday we were looking for somewhere to go when we had an idea. We saw a winding road up a mountain. We almost fell off! We started going up. There was no fence on on the winding road. When it started to get snowy we stoped at took a hike. When we got back we went farther up. It was so icy that we got stuck! Then we saw some one. They helped us turn around on the narrow road. After that we started to go down. We stay at a mountain stream a while. We had a picnic. That Saturday was so fun. We whent home that night. Well, we survived that trip, but mom wants to go back in the summer. I geuess I want to go back too. It won't be icy so I do want to go back! The next day of school I told people at lunch about what happened.

It was truly a precipitous drop, no guard-rails or anything. Note how little Robbie insists on spelling "went" as "whent," and see if you can count how many times.

Ever since that h I heard That voice in Harrison school New Jersey, I've been talking a lot [ ] it. When I whent to see my doctor, he said I should have a charm. So I do, rigt now. And so far, it's been working.

Okay, that's creepy: I swear I don't remember hearing voices or seeing dead people, I wasn't that kind of kid. What charm? Why was I being seen by a doctor this time? though I wrack my brain, I can't remember this voice, this charm. Must have worked.

at bedtime

Recently I met some really mean kids. When I first met them they were throwing iceballs at us. The second The secondtime they stole Sarah's (that's my sister) sled. They didn't believe it was my sister's sled. They told me to prove it. Me and my friend Corey. So, I got mom and she said it was Sarah's sled. They "Here's your proof!" I said grinning.

But they still did not give it back. I was about to burst with frustration! Then I couldn't take it any more. I started chaseing The one who had the sled. He almost got away but I lept forward and tackled him, grabed the sled and ran home. Now me, I don't ever do things like that, but I had to.

I had to. No choice in the matter. Note the brutality with which little Robbie crossed out "I said grinning."

Feb 17, 1996

Once we went to a pond to look for frogs. We all like to go froging. We kept looking for frogs but we did not find any. Well, acually we did see some frogs but we didn't catch any. Froging is a tradition in my family, so it was normal to look for frogs. My family likes animals. We like frogs too. Lots of times we whent to this place and found frogs. We've found frogs at other places too, but we found most of them at White City Lake, (were we were) Frogs are one of my favorete animals. But Frogs are my third favorete animals (lizards are my second) What I'm saying is simply I like frogs. So we looked some more for frogs, none. I glanced at the murky green water of the pond. I saw a dark blur shape in the distance. It disapeared into the murky water. It came back out of the green water. I did not know what it was. We went back upto the car. We didn't catch any frogs that day. But I got a story for homework at school! When we got home we started looking through a book we didn't know what it was but we guessed it was a river otter.

Just to keep things straight:

1) Snakes

2) Lizards

3) Frogs

Got it?

Feb 18, 1996

Once we whent to a creek in New Jersey we were looking for frogs. We kept looking in the creek. We found a tadpole and a crayfish. We kept looking. We did not find any. We whent to the parking lot and saw a mud puddle. We looked through it and we saw a frog! It had yellow spots an brown skin. I chased after it. It could hop pretty fast. I caught it and put it in a bucket of water. Because of its spots we named it Leopard Spots. We put it with our other frogs. At that time we had the frogs in a bucket, but latter we got a cage for them. There were lots of other times we did find frogs.

Feb 19, 1996

Me and Erick were outside sieving dirt. We had big bagsfull. We had at least three bags full to the top. I was thinking about Tina Turtle she had disapeared a few days before. "Erick, the bags leaking!" I said pushing my thoughts away. "Get a bucket." I said. He whent over. I was startled by his shrill shreik loud call: "It's Tina!" he screamed. I ran over to see Tina in the corner. She was alive! Because he's always saving animals I call him Rick T. Superhero!

Thought twice about "shrill shriek," huh?

My favorite place in New Jersey is the beach. It is very nice there. Once I got lost there. We walked on the hot sand to find a place to put our blanket. We found a place to put it. I ran to the shore and saw the white toped blue waves hit the yellow-brown sand. When we found the place we started to go to the water. I splashed at mom. She splashed back. After the water war we whent to the blanket to have lunch. After lunch we started to dig a hole. We made a deep one. After that I started to look for jellyfish. I kept going farther. I looked both ways but I didn't see them. I ran the way I came. Nothing. Carrying a heap of jellyfish I ran. I'm lost! I thought. I didn't know what to do. I saw someone say: "Are you lost?" I spun around. "Yes." I said. She helped me try to look for my family. We saw a ranger. I whent inside his car. We drove through the yellow brown sand. I saw a familiar flower bathing suit. "Mom!" I screamed. I handed her the large snail shell I found while I was lost. "I found it for you." I said. I'll never forget when I got lost on the beach!

And I haven't. What I left out, though, were the effects of an the armful of jellyfish I was carrying. They were not horribly poisonous ones, tiny little droopy floppy contact lens type things. So translucent and crystalline: I couldn't resist. All jellyfish drool is irritant, and all of it dripping down my legs and in-between made for a seriously painful sensation. Yet I still carried them great distances. My little arms full of whatever flotsam and jetsam I could pick up until the ranger told me to put it down, all except for the shell I kept for my mom.

Once we were getting ready to go to my great grand mom's birthday party. Sarah was holding her gerbil. I heard her scream. Erick ran into the kitchen, "Pinstripe bid Sarah's lip!" Sarah came into the kitchen. Blood was dripind from her lip. "What happened?" I asked. Mom treated her lip. Dinner that night was fun.

What! I make it sound like we ate the gerbil!

Once we were at home. Erick was in the kitchen. I was in the bedroom. I glanced into the frog's cage and let out a cry of terror. I saw Leopard Spots in the big frog's mouth! "Leopard Spot is going to get eaten!" When Erick heard me he ran upstairs. he pulled Leopard spots out. Thats another time I would call him Rick-T Superhero.

True story: he remembers it too.

Another time we went to the beach. We ate lunch and then we started playing. We dug a hole. The tide whent higher. It washed over the hole. It got higher. We couldn't move our blanket in time. It washed over the blanket! "My towl!" Sarah said. Lucily, I had my towl around me. "Oh well." I said. After that happened we whent to the board walk. I got jumping beans and sunglasses. Then we whent on the rides. Me and Erick whent in the House of Mirrors twice. I whent on a feris wheel and a few more rides. After that mom took me to a resturant. I had pizza and icecream. After that we whent home, I fell asleep in the car.

Ah, blissfully unaware of how my life will fall apart soon.

Once we whent to Bear Lake. It was a long ride. But the ride was fun. When we finally got there we found out it was for summer activities. But we explored a little. I found an arrow head. I got really cold so I whent in the car to get warmed up. When I was warm enough I whent back outside. We saw frozen water on the Lake. We started to throw heady rocks on it. it didn't break. We whent home. It was night when we got home. It was fun that Saturday. We got ready to go to bed, then we whent to sleep.

You must sleep as much as a cat.

School in Utah is more fun than school in New Jersey. We get recces three times a day instead of once a week. Lunches are better too. We get to choose what you whant to eat. The teachers are better too. I have two teachers: Mr. High is the morning teacher, and Mrs. Flint is my afternoon teacher. And when it's too cold outside we have indoor recces. Every Monday we have half day of school.

Once a week! What barbarity.

Once we were going camping in New York state, we had our tent and other camping equipment. We put up our tent. We unpacked our stuff and put it in our tent. That night we sat around the campfire. We started going to the tent. Sarah screamed. We ran over to see what happened. "AAhh!" she screamed. "What kind of insect is that?" I asked. Mom got a paper cup and scooped it up. Then she let it go.

Her scream at that bug, which the grown-ups agreed was impressive, made the whole forest ring.

Once we whent to a nice park. Me and dad whent on a nature walk. While Erick and Sarah played. When I got back they wanted to play in the snow. I got mad. After a while Erick had to go to the bathroom. I was thirsty. Dad got a bottle of soda. We shared it. Then we whent home. That happened recently. (A few days ago.) It was pretty fun that Saturday. I whant to go back there.

Don't we always want to go back there, to those fabled leisured Saturdays which occur in childhoods? Little Robbie was really trying to cope with the move, the loss of the green of the East Coast, the ocean, his slummy house and the fetid swamp where he used to go catch frogs. What was supposed to be a journal, turned into a chain reminiscence in search of lost time. Although I've come a long way since those early and awkward lines, I have just as far to go for my writing to be where I want it to be. It's always a work in progress, but one thing's for sure: eventually I learned how to spell "went."