Meet Darlusz the Polish Frog

Last week, Jeff came to my house with a bunch of stuff. The house was pretty barren, and he had some nice stuff he said he wasn’t using.  Jeff said the things he brought would freshen up my homestead a bit.  He was right. the house looks much better. Thanks, Jeff!

This is Jeff, flashing a movie star smile in Times Square back in January. He is not to be confused with Darlusz, whose image is below.

When he brought the bedding, furniture, hangers and assorted household items, Jeff didn’t know he had a stowaway.  It was a football sized fake frog named Darlusz Zabagaiski.

Darlusz has decided to be my roommate. Not my doing. But I’ll make him my mascot, if nothing else. He’d better earn his keep. I don’t even know where he came from yet. I’ve got to tease that out of him.

How Darlusz moved in with me is a slightly convoluted story, but it involves a sock monkey from Ithaca, N.Y. Bear with me, this isn’t the rantings of a seriously mentally ill person. Well, not entirely.

This is Darlusz Zabagaiski, the frog who moved into my house and agreed (I think) to be my mascot/helper

Georges Le Soq, is a French sock monkey who pretty much invaded the home of a guy named Gary Rith. Georges made himself at home at Gary’s house, although Gary isn’t always convinced its a good idea.

Gary, by the way, is this really cool potter living in Ithaca, N.Y. You can follow his exploits, those of Georges, and especially his excellent pottery creations on his blog, Gary’s Third Pottery Blog.

Gary’s pottery is super whimisical, with animal themes and great color schemes. Do check it out. Buy some, too!

An alligator mug created by Gary Rith

Anyway, on with the story. Those Europeans stick together, and somehow Darlusz met Georges, the French sock monkey and asked for advice on finding a  comfortable place to live.

“You haf to, how you say, meet zee sucker to take you in,” Georges told Darlusz.

So Darlusz somehow made his way to Vermont.  He wouldn’t say how, but I suspect he got some information about me from Gary via Georges.

Darlusz somehow got into the bags Jeff brought into the house, and then he suddenly appeared, sitting on the back deck railing on a muggy late May night.

“I bling you goud luck,” Darulsz said by introduction. “I leeve wid you.”

“No, you’re a frog. There’s plenty of wood frogs out back. Go with them,” I said, not wanting a roommate. Especially a brown frog with iffy language skills.

“No. Da woods is dark and wet and cold. Not goud for frog lika me,” said Darlusz.

I tried to pick Darlusz up and kick him out. He wouldn’t budge. He clung to the railing. “Wait! Georgez sed you a, what you say, a goud man. Let me stay at da houz, Jus tanight.”

Georges was right. I’m a sucker. Darlusz Zabagaiski stayed at the house that night. And the next. Etcetera. .For now, in the warm weather, he likes to hang out on the deck railing. At least he’s out of sight, out of mind when I’m in the house.  Like I said, Darlusz had better pull his weight and stay out of my  hair.

I’m sure you’ll be reading more about Darlusz’s exploits though.  Hoo boy. I hope he doesn’t find any Polish polka CDs to play at 3 a.m.