I was minding my own business, working on the manuscript for the fourth book in my San Diego K-9 series when something caught my attention. There was a green blob between the mosquito netting and the wind/rain curtain for our gazebo, roughly where the red circle is in the picture below.

When I got up to take a closer look, I was horrified to find a little green frog trapped between the two layers. [Editorial note: amphibian lovers, it's safe to read on.] He was flattened against the rain curtain and was completely motionless. I couldn't even see him take a breath. I feared the worst, but had to try to rescue him, in case he was alive.

I untied the mosquito netting and secured it out of the way. The poor little guy was still hanging on to the curtain, unmoving. With a small stick, I tried ever so gently to get him onto a piece of cardboard.

Imagine my joy when he actually moved of his own volition! He was alive and apparently well! My joy was short lived and followed by horror, when the little guy used the cardboard as a springboard and (all two inches of him) catapulted from approximately four feet in the air onto a patio stone.

Thankfully he survived the leap and again (no thanks to me) appeared unharmed. He didn't seem very comfortable on the flagstone so I very gently nudged him towards the garden situated about a foot away from him.

I was so happy that he was back in his element and obviously enjoying it, as evidenced by him climbing up on a plant.

Isn't he cute? In the next picture, he even looks like he's smiling, doesn't he?!

Feeling pleased that I was able to help him and more than likely saved his life, I went back to working on my manuscript. I was getting absorbed in it again, when I saw the frog hop across the patio toward another, larger garden . . . or so I had assumed.

Imagine my surprise when he stopped short at another gazebo post . . . and proceeded to start climbing up the curtain fabric.

Quite agile, isn't he? He kept climbing until he reached the half-way point where the curtain and netting are both tied back . . .

. . . and then tried to find a way under the netting . . .

Whether he likes it between the two layers because it shields him from the elements or perhaps protects him from natural predators (if not from me), he seems to purposefully want to be there.

So the moral of this story is that nature is pretty darn amazing and can do quite well on its own, and a little two-inch frog might be smarter than I am in some respects!