The Norah and Dad Show

Toad the Wet Sprocket

• Norah Hyman & Jon Hyman • Season 2 • Episode 30

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Norah and Dad discuss Freckles, Norah's newly rescued-from-the-backyard pet toad, who may be sleeping or may be dead. Welcome to the first cliffhanger in the history of The Norah and Dad Show.

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Intro music written and performed by norah marie.

Dad:

Hey Nora,

Norah:

Hey dad,

Dad:

do you know what the bus driver said to the toad?

Norah:

I don't

Dad:

Hop in.

Norah:

That one was not bad.

Dad:

Ah, wait. I got, I got one more for you. Are you ready?

Norah:

Ooh. Okay. Yes.

Dad:

Do you know what toads drink?

Norah:

What

Dad:

Croak a cola.

Norah:

haha. That

Dad:

one, not. That one wasn't as good.

Norah:

good.

Dad:

All right, we'll go with the first one. Hop in. Hey, what are we talking about this week?

Norah:

We are talking about our little toad friend

Dad:

Hey, welcome back to the Nora and Dad Show one week longer than we expected being back with you all. We kind of screwed up last week and forgot to record an episode, which, which happens but the week off gave us a cool topic to talk about this week, but we'll get to that in a second. But anyway, as always I'm dad and I'm here with my lovely. 16 year old daughter, Nora. Hey, what's going on, Nora?

Norah:

Nothing much. It is a Sunday night. Um,

Dad:

All right. Thank you all for listening. We'll see you in two weeks,

Norah:

Yep.

Dad:

It's been a fa it's been a fairly I guess uneventful three weeks in our house, I guess. Yes.

Norah:

Yes. And yeah,

Dad:

Yeah. I mean, there hasn't been, yeah, it hasn't been too much going on except, as you mentioned in the opening we now have a new four-legged friend, living, we think living in our house. Do you wanna, do you wanna fill everyone in?

Norah:

okay. I was living my life yesterday and my mother comes frantically from, um, from outside the backyard and hands me a toad and it's not moving and it's very cold, and she's just like, warm it up and I didn't know what to do, so I just wrapped it in a towel and kind of kept it there. And then little monster. Mr. John Hyman said that we could not keep the toad because it would just die like it's gonna die, so it's okay.

Dad:

Because my house is not a zoo. But go ahead.

Norah:

but then my mom and I convinced him that we could keep the toad, and now we have the toad who may or may not be alive. We're not

Dad:

We, we haven't, we haven't seen it actually move yet

Norah:

but I spent$20 on it.

Dad:

So,

Norah:

moved today.

Dad:

so, mom was out in the backyard picking up, dog poops yesterday, before the snow came today, and, and buried all the poops in snow and where she came upon this toad, which you then brought in the house and yeah. So, you named the, you named the toad. What?

Norah:

Freckles.

Dad:

Freckles because if we have the animal in the house, the animal has to have a name. And so we found an old, or you, I guess mom found

Norah:

no, I did. That was all me.

Dad:

when we went, we used to do, frog Jumping Valley City, Ohio is the frog jumping capital of, of America, apparently. And every summer they have a. Frog jumping competition. And when you and your brother were little, we used to go do the Frog jumping Competition and we started by renting frogs.

Norah:

I didn't know you could rent frog.

Dad:

yeah, it was for an extra couple bucks, you could rent a frog and they would just reach in this giant tank of frogs and hand you a frog and you would rent a frog and they. All sourced from around the area, and I believe they promised they returned them from where they found them. at the end of the frog jumping competitions, they would hand you a frog or you could of course bring your, you could of course bring your own frog

Norah:

and there were people who like have. like they, they breed their frogs and have like their star frog jumper.

Dad:

Oh, there was someone ahead of us in line one year who flew in from California with their frog for frog jumping, and was on the phone with, I guess it was wherever they were, whoever's house they were staying in, telling the person, Like what to feed the frog and when and when to stretch out its limbs, like the frog's exercise regimen for the day to get it primed and ready to go for their jump later on that day. People take that stuff really seriously. We never took it that seriously. other than I have a, a rock and Kermit the frog hat that I used to wear for frog jumping that I now wear when I,

Norah:

and you have cool t-shirts.

Dad:

the, I just cleared the driveway and was wearing my Kermit the frog hat just. Shovel the driveway. So, and our frogs never did very well. They would just kind of, I think

Norah:

beef frogs,

Dad:

Yeah, they would just be frogs. I think the rules are, they put a giant, like one of those, like when you do do like the parachute in gym class, you know what I'm talking about?

Norah:

talking about? I do, yeah. It's like a tarp. Yeah.

Dad:

Yeah. Like the giant like canvas, like, or nylon, like tart parachute thing. and they, they put the frog in the middle of that and then it gets three jumps and they measure how far it jumps. And I don't think we ever had a frog in the years we did it. I think we did it three or four times. I don't think we ever had a frog go more than like, Go more than like two feet and some go like 12, 15, 18, 20 feet. I don't think we ever had a frog go more than two. So, frog jumping, not for us. you go down to Valley City, you hang out with Mayor Ribbit for a day. your frog does nothing and then you go home. But the point is the tank that what freckles is that? The, the toad.

Norah:

freckles.

Dad:

But the point is that, is that the, the tank that freckles is now, we think, we think living in, was the tank that we tank That's like a plastic, like

Norah:

It's not a very good habitat for the toad, but it's better than him dying outside. It's temporary.

Dad:

so the, the one year that we went and found our own frogs or frog jumping, we, we bought that. Carrying plastic, carrying container thinky to put the frogs in, to get them to and from the Frog Jumping competition. And it's been sitting in the garage ever since. And I don't think we've done frog jumping in, I don't know, 10, 10 years, eight years, nine years. I don't know. But so, freckles is now residing in that, habitat and Yeah. And we were at the pet store today. The dogs needed their nails trimmed, and you went with us to the pet store and purchased what, what, what all did you purchase for our, our maybe living, maybe dead towed friend?

Norah:

some substrate, because toads are burrowing animals, so they need to be able to burrow under the dirt. I got'em a little hiding log thing cuz they like to hide. And some meal worms that I don't think he has eaten cuz he hasn't moved all day. So

Dad:

To be, to be fair. frogs or frogs, toads. Toads are nocturnal. So it is possible that we're gonna go to bed tonight. All the lights in the house will go off and he will, awaken or she, they, they will awaken. They will awaken. We decided, freckles pronouns are, are they them? freckles will awaken and have an active night, eat the, the meal worms and. Wake up in the morning and he will be on the totally opposite side of the habitat and all will be right in the world. But I will say we gave him a good poking this afternoon and that thing did not move at all.

Norah:

when Mom tapped the glass, he.

Dad:

are you sure she didn't shake the thing, it just caused it to move as if it was living in an earthquake.

Norah:

know.

Dad:

yeah.

Norah:

see you tomorrow.

Dad:

We will see tomorrow, so at least for today, we have another. We think living creature in our house to go along with the four of us. Me, your mom and you and your brother. The

Norah:

and the two dogs.

Dad:

I was getting there, the two dogs and now, freckles. The toad. I guess the plan was to get freckles cuz toads can, can they not, can they not survive in the cold?

Norah:

cold weather They're supposed to, so they're supposed to like burrow underground during the winter. They hibernate, but I think because it got up into the fifties, freckles got confused and came up. So yes, if we release them, they will die.

Dad:

now, if Freckle sees his shadow when he comes up, how many, how many more weeks of winter does that mean we have,

Norah:

I don't know. It's a good question. You have to

Dad:

I don't know. I'm, I'm just, I'm, or, or, or is, or is that the groundhog?

Norah:

ground. That's the groundhog.

Dad:

That's the groundhog. Okay.

Norah:

That was not a funny joke.

Dad:

I thought it was hilarious.

Norah:

a fan.

Dad:

Was the bus joke better?

Norah:

Yeah.

Dad:

Oh, okay. All right. so, so you did all the research on the toads. What else, what else can you tell us about freckles? Like what's the, what's the lifespan of a, of a toad?

Norah:

Oh, I

Dad:

How long would freckles, how, like how long would freckles. Live And why doesn't Freckles have enough common sense since it's now like below freezing and snowing? Why doesn't he have enough common sense to burrow back in the hole he came out of when he thought it was

Norah:

maybe, I don't know. Maybe I got frozen. Okay. He's an American toad. I think that's what he looks like.

Dad:

Okay.

Norah:

Okay. Um,

Dad:

We know that they secrete some stuff, so you're supposed to wash your hands after you handle it because there's some

Norah:

Well, Andrew, you're not, you're not really supposed to handle them. I mean, like you can, but it's better to just leave them be

Dad:

Okay. Well,

Norah:

American towed

Dad:

I, I, I vote, I voted for leaving him or leaving them be, but I was out voted.

Norah:

No, I mean, like, you're not supposed to like touch them very often.

Dad:

Okay.

Norah:

Um, it's not telling me how long. I mean, and they live, they can live up to 30 years in captivity.

Dad:

Have you seen

Norah:

the wild. They can only survive for like one to two years though. But can, I mean that's like the average, but they can live up to 10 years in the wild.

Dad:

have you seen the new, iPhone commercial? Where the guy, I think he's like taking care of his friend's lizard, and he texts his friend, the lizard is like belly up on the kitchen counter and he texts his friends that the lizard is dead. And then the lizard, like, I guess it was sleeping and wakes up and flips over and starts walking around and he deletes the text message. Have you.

Norah:

No.

Dad:

That's all I think of when I see that toad just laying there motionless in them. I'm waiting for it to like wake up and be like, ah, I was just kidding with you guys. I'm really not dead.

Norah:

Did you know that frogs and toads are perhaps the most intelligent among the amphibians and have the largest brain to body ratio?

Dad:

Okay. I find that hard to believe because our toad got confused by our weather pattern, so I find that very hard to believe.

Norah:

This is a big issue of talking about my ecology class, is that a lot of animals are dying cuz of climate change cuz they're coming out too early.

Dad:

Yeah. And that, that, that is, that is really sad. Yeah. So hopefully

Norah:

oh,

Dad:

What

Norah:

we can figure out if freckles is a boy or a girl.

Dad:

and how does one go about sexing a toad?

Norah:

males have black or brown throats while females have white throats.

Dad:

Okay, well we should go. We should go. pick up freckles and,

Norah:

I don't wanna bug him anymore today.

Dad:

Yeah, I, I think freckles has been trauma. May, maybe we can say figuring out freckles gender for another day. I think freckles has been traumatized

Norah:

is alive first.

Dad:

He was all, you know, happy in his borough outside, and then it got warm and he came out and, and now got snatched

Norah:

so happy because it was springtime. He thought, really thought it was spring, so ready and

Dad:

Yeah. And now he's locked in this cage in someone's home. He has no idea what's going on. His family's probably out there looking for him like freckles, and they don't know where he

Norah:

would, would they rather have him come back alive though, or find him dead in the yard?

Dad:

I, I don't, I don't know the answer to that. I guess I'd rather he come back alive, but still think of poor freckles, husband and or wife and children. Cuz Toads, toads have lots of kids. They, they can have like hundreds and hundreds of, of children, baby toads. think of all of them. Worried about poor freckles, who's locked up inside our home. This now sounds like a Pixar.

Norah:

No.

Dad:

No cause in cause in the Pixar movie, the, the main character wouldn't start, wouldn't start out dead.

Norah:

out? Yes. Oh, okay. Freckles does not have pale and flaky skin, so that that's a sign of death. Oh, and they also play Dead?

Dad:

They play dead.

Norah:

Yeah,

Dad:

Are you saying toads play possum.

Norah:

I suppose.

Dad:

Why do they play dead?

Norah:

Oh, and their eyes are open when they hibernate, so they look kind of dead.

Dad:

So you think he's hibernating or, or It's hibernating.

Norah:

maybe

Dad:

So we don't, we, so we don't think freckles is deceased.

Norah:

we'll see. I mean, he needs to eat. So if he doesn't eat well, I guess if he's hibernated, he probably doesn't need to eat.

Dad:

Right.

Norah:

Huh?

Dad:

Oh, this is, this is all fascinating now.

Norah:

I'm gonna talk to Mr. Wright, the ecology teacher tomorrow, and.

Dad:

You should have looked all this up before you shed tears over, over freckles being dead this afternoon.

Norah:

Well, mom told me she picked him up and went, oh, he's dead. And I had just spent$20 on him.

Dad:

20 of your hard earned

Norah:

They can play dead up to 48 hours. That's awful.

Dad:

Wow. Maybe they are the smartest amphibians of the animal kingdom.

Norah:

huh? Okay, so he's probably scared and that's why he's playing dead.

Dad:

Wouldn't you be scared of some giant things? Scooped you up and threw you in a plexi? Threw you in a plexiglass cage.

Norah:

which is why I'm not gonna, I'm not bothering him anymore. I'm just gonna spray his habitat with water every once in a while and, drop in some meal worm.

Dad:

Oh, well this is now, this is now super exciting. So we're gonna have a a, this is, this is like the official, is this the first official, like Nora and Dad show cliffhanger,

Norah:

I suppose it'll be a really sad one if he dies,

Dad:

Like, come back in two weeks for whether we've had a, a, a towed resurrection or a towed funeral.

Norah:

told Jesus

Dad:

Oh, no. Stop. No, that's not right. That's awful. Are you gonna start a religion now that worship's, freckles as your, as your Lord and Savior

Norah:

Mays? Only if freckles lives though.

Dad:

Yeah. So, so everybody, everybody come back in two weeks for the exciting news of whether, freckles, was playing possum, or is actually, passed on to the other.

Norah:

other side.

Dad:

So in two weeks, we will give the big update on freckles. In two weeks, we'll also be able to give an update on, mock trial, which the competition is Friday. The first round of the Ohio High School mock trial competition is Friday. we will be, you and I along with the rest of your mock trial team will be down at the. Cuyahoga County Justice Center for the first round of the competition. I think you guys are gonna, and I think you guys are gonna do awesome, but we'll be able to update everybody in two weeks as well. Whether, we moved on to, whether we moved on to the second round, or not, how you, how, how, how you feeling heading into the competition. Do you feel, do you feel prepared?

Norah:

I cannot give away our secrets in case

Dad:

Well, no, I just mean like you, no, I just mean like, like, like you, like you, yes. Because all the high schools listen to our, our podcast to get an a leg up on the Lake Ridge mock trial team. But do you personally, you feel, you, you feel prepared, for someone, you've never met to cross-examine you.

Norah:

I mean, after you gave me the cross? Yeah. Cause I don't think anyone's gonna have a better cross than you.

Dad:

Ah, look at my, look at my 25 years of being a lawyer finally paying off.

Norah:

yeah, I was pretty good cross.

Dad:

I think you know your stuff really well, and I think you'll, I think you'll be just fine. So I'm

Norah:

It was just that one section that I guess I had just. Been asked about before, so I didn't know how to answer that question.

Dad:

it helps to get a different perspective because someone is gonna read those, someone's gonna read those facts and pull something else out of it that you haven't expected. So it's good that we did that, went through the exercise.

Norah:

I know. I'm glad you did.

Dad:

yeah, so I'm gonna wish you luck now officially in front of the whole world. I don't think you need it. I think you're gonna be just fine. But I'm excited to see how our team

Norah:

Ready to be the best. Blair Jor you ever.

Dad:

There we go. Alright. Get your, get your, get your snotty, get your snotty high school student thing on. and if people want to hear what the case is about it was episode,

Norah:

episode, your mom.

Dad:

Yeah. Whatever. It was episode 25 of the Noran Dad Show Pop Rocking Beats.

Norah:

What episode are we on now?

Dad:

where this is gonna be episode 30.

Norah:

Wow.

Dad:

I know.

Norah:

fifties coming

Dad:

50 is coming up. We'll have a big, we'll have a big anniversary celebration, so,

Norah:

woo.

Dad:

Woohoo. All right. anything else you want to add about freckles, mock trial, or anything else going on in your world?

Norah:

Stay warm. Stay alive.

Dad:

Alright. Stay warm, stay alive. Don't be like freckles or maybe be

Norah:

come out of hibernation early.

Dad:

we're not, we're not sure. we will see everyone back in two weeks. We promise. We promise. We promise We'll be back in two weeks, with an update on freckles.

Norah:

Just in case there's a a grave incident.

Dad:

I don't only promise I pinky swear. Promise we

Norah:

Whoa, that's a little intense.

Dad:

We'll be back in two weeks with an update on whether freckles has lived or passed on, or if freckles has told Jesus has passed on and then come back. We'll see. So

Norah:

his.

Dad:

stay tuned. we'll see everyone back in two weeks. Nora, where can everybody find you other than. Taking care of freckles on the Lake Ridge Mock trial team are otherwise right here on this podcast.

Norah:

You can find me at Nora Marie Music

Dad:

And that's

Norah:

that. That's everywhere.

Dad:

You can find me, at John Hyman everywhere. If you like what you heard, and you are not yet subscribe to the show, please click the subscribe button. you can also, rate us and leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts. You can rate us on Spotify. We take all ratings. Uh, we love knowing that people think we are five star worthy. It makes both of us very, very happy. we will see everyone back in two weeks. Love you, Nora.

Norah:

love you.

People on this episode

Contributor

Jon Hyman

Host
Contributor

Norah Hyman

Host