Mudbath

I’m keen to see eyes peering out of mudflats . . . the creatures from the bog, the foraging carp, the bullfrog in camo, a Pacific chorus frog in a dewdrop.

I shot this photo at Blake Garden, just north of Berkeley in the Kensington Hills. My vision is tuned to anomalies and, sure enough, there was one: a frog basking unnoticed, up to his eyeballs (literally) in spring mud.

Mudbath - ©ingridtaylar

Blake Garden — one horticultural satellite of UC — is 10+ acres of public greenery that “supports teaching and research in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design.” The garden’s focus is on plants that thrive in our Mediterranean climate. Built in the 1920s, the property was originally 22 acres — and, until 1962, the house on the property was inhabited by members of the Blake family. The family deeded their home to the University of California. When you stroll the grounds, you’re meandering through a small estate of mini-habitats, forest, a grotto with koi, rock outcroppings, and notches of view over San Francisco Bay below.