Chapter 7: Time

When I arrived home from a Frog Lecture this evening, I found my Two Familiar Friends waiting for me, intently peering out of their Dwelling, looking as if they had a question or perhaps an observation.  I sauntered to their Dwelling and made myself comfortable, lifting their lid.

Mote quickly began by saying that she and Mustardseed had heard me often refer to Time, as in my discussion about Writing, and how it reaches to other Frogs and Men through the expanses of Time.  She said that she could not move herself to see the idea with her mind, and was curious as to What I Meant.

After much thought about how to present the idea of Time to my Frogs, I started by saying that Time is a form of measurement, or a Way of Knowing.  After Doing Some Research, I said it is the indefinite and continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, or future, regarded as a whole and continuous Thing.

Mote said that this explanation Did Not Help.  

Slightly frustrated, and a bit incredulous, (for what I gave them was straight from a Dictionary) I thought of an analogy for the Frogs.  An excellent idea came to mind.  

I said that since Frogs must always stay Moist, to keep their skin Liberated, they must, at regular intervals, Bask in Wet.  And in between these Basks, there is an interval, a longness, a period, during which their skin becomes dry, forcing them back into the Wet.  This longness is called Time, which Makes Things Happen, and punctuates Events, and measures out the day, driving the world of Frogs and Men.

Both Mote and Mustardseed said that my example was interesting, and stimulating for the mind, but was a Bit Absurd, and that the idea sounded Impossible.  Quite like traveling faster than the Speed of Light, Mustardseed said.

Or of the Reaching of Absolute Zero, added Mote.

Or of Dividing By Zero, said Mustardseed.

Or even the Concept of having Zero of Something, again said Mote.

For a moment, I looked between the Frogs, hunting for the sign of a Joke or Prank--a stray glance or crass snicker.  I found neither.  The Frogs were adamant.

I went on to say that Time is surely possible and most definitely a vital factor in the Lily Pad and the Universe, that they would do well to Conceive of it, and that the only Place (if it could be called a place) where Time may not exist is Beyond A Black Hole.

Mote lifted her head emphatically and said that Perhaps Frogs were Beyond The Black Hole.

Mote said that Perhaps Frogs were Beyond The Black Hole

Frustrated, I gave up, and cooked myself dinner, using clocks and many ways of Timing to make my meal.  I am convinced that the Frogs simply cannot wrap their minds around the idea of Time, and I am anxiously curious how they make sense of the events, memories, and Frogs of their lives, without a narrative mechanism such as Time to keep an order to it all.  Perhaps theirs is a different method, for any other explanation would be Ridiculous.