Let me start by telling you I am not a fan of amphibians, not by any means. In fact, they go in the eewooo category. But after reading a story in the Columbus Dispatch about a special exhibit at Dawes Arboretum, I suggested it to Dan as our next park destination.

The Ribbit Exhibit, as it is cleverly called, is a collection of sculptures made by an artist who had chosen frogs as his subjects. I expected it would be some little frogs and some big frogs, but I was delighted to discover these frogs were portrayed as doing very unfroglike activities.

The first one we came to was a big frog getting ready to play leap frog over a smaller frog, who was about to leap over yet a smaller frog. I posed as if I were about to leap over the first frog, and thus began our photos of Mary having fun with the frogs. The next frog was about my size, standing up and playing a banjo. The caption for this photo of me pretending to kiss him is “Sometimes you just have to kiss some frogs….” Some others I liked were the frog riding a bike, one taking his dog for a walk, and another using binoculars to scan for flies I guess. He was part of a windmill-like structure that carried him around in a counter-clockwise motion with the wind. But my favorite was the couple dancing. She wore a dress, and he wore a vest with a dress shirt, complete with cufflinks. They were in ballroom dance position, which of course touched my heart. I would caption this one, “Froggy went a courtin’.”

Dawes Arboretum is near Newark Ohio, about an hour’s drive from Columbus. And the Ribbit Exhibit will be there all summer. It is a beautiful setting, peaceful and fun at the same time. You will not see flashing lights or animation, but you will smile, I’m sure.

Address: 7770 Jacksontown Rd, Newark, OH 43056

Ribbit the Exhibit daily through September 8

Larger than life Frog sculptures created by J. A. Cobb

Included with admission

Lyman Whitaker’s Wind Sculptures daily through October 17

Works of art moving with the wind

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com