photo by Larry Clinton | post by Jenny Stein
Katy Boyd of East Pier reported, via Nextdoor Kappas Marina, and neighbor Brad Hathaway confirms, that the humming toadfish are indeed back. Could it be that recent 4th of July kazoo band activity has got these creatures in the mood?
Or was it Neptune (Keith Shaw) reading from Toadfish Love, in front of the viewing stand during the Sausalito 4th of July Parade, that kicked the water-dwelling hummers into high gear?
The poem Toadfish Love, written by East Pierian Gordon Haight in the style of Alfred Lord Tennyson, is reprinted from the July/August 2009 Floating Times. Click here for the original story; or to view the previous post: Toads Stage Triumphant Comeback
TOADFISH LOVE
There was a time in houseboat lore
That …Humming… Toadfish did such roar
That sleepy neighbors could not ignore.
Was the…humming… a nighttime snore?But, no, scientists did say, it was
…Humming… Toadfish at bedtime play.
They…hummed…for mating until they were sore:
The …Humming… Toadfish of sex lore.No time for feeding, no time for fun,
…Humming… Toadfish relax when done.
From the mud of Sausalito did they come,
…Humming… Toadfish breeding their young.So march on the 4th, and dance all night
But late in the evening when stars are bright,
Listen for those lovers with all your might
For the …Humming… Toadfish… own the night.
The 4th of July Parade, as the Humming Toadfish break into the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine | video by Kay Horne