What Goes Bump in the Night

Maybe it's because I'm tired, or because it's this diet that I started today, but I'm feeling a little crazy...I think I'll tell you about our little visitor we have in the basement.

For the last two weeks I've been hearing a sound coming from the basement.  Here's the thing...up until last night, I'm the only one who'd been hearing it.  After I heard it the other day, I called Ash from upstairs.  She didn't hear it.  I thought, 'Nice, above everything else, I'm losing my mind.'  After she silently read my mind, she shot me a look back that said, 'yeah, your one train ride away from Crazy Station.'  Then she went back upstairs. 

For the next few days, I would hear it, and call assorted kids to listen.  By the time they would get down to hear it, the noise would be gone. 

"It's a weird whistling noise like a kazoo or something."  I finally fessed up to Big D one night. 
"You're weird and you're hearing things."  Then his eyes went shut again. 

So at this point, I felt like calling up the Science Channel and having them do a report on it or something.  Like the Sasquatch, swampthing, or the skunkthing (okay, maybe it's just a skunk, people), I needed someone to figure out my kazoo sounding mystery...

                                   Personally, I think it takes a big person to show off this beauty

Because let me tell you, I won't go down there myself.   Here's the problem.  It's yucky, old and scary.  If there was an F5 tornado barrelling down on my butt, I would face it head on before I would go down there.  Yeah, it's that scary.  Our house was built in  the 1930's, and even though the whole house has been renovated, the basement is untouched.  Y-U-C-K!  (Literally untouched, I won't even go on the steps.) Big D goes down there to fill the softener and look at the furnace, that's it.

Back to the sound.   Last night about midnight, I'm woken by a chilling, high pitched girl scream.  "What the...(we'll leave that blank)" as I tripped on a Lego then stepped on a cold half eaten apple that I had missed while picking up before bed. (Somebody get Mary Poppins some smelling salts!  She fainted dead away from just hearing about this mess)

Anyway, it was Levi.  As he ran through the downstairs hollering, he woke up Maggie and Jessica.

Ron got up quick and consoled him while I did some damage control with the little girls.  On his way back, he said, "um that little buzzing sound is a tree frog in the basement.  It eats up all the crickets and bugs that get in here." He said, looking at me like I truly was a weirdo.

"Really Marlin Perkins?"  I missed the episode of wild kingdom where they interviewed the tree frog that played a small role in "This Old House".

This morning Levi asked for help with his shirt.  It was the one with all the frogs on it.  The he walks over to scary basement and says in a loud macho voice, "See tree frog?"  While pointing to his shirt. 
"Does the tree frog like your shirt?" I ask him trying hard not to laugh. 
"Yah, need nug!"  Born to hunt Levi speak for 'need gun'.
Big sassy sister Grace rolls her eyes and says,  "Oh Levi, you can't shoot tree frogs, it's illegal!"

Happy Trails,
Suzanne