Weather Or Not
"No, mom, you have to dial," my wife said. "Push the thing---No, the---Yes. There."
Teen Paranormal meeting. Working on strange weather patterns. I had the kids in---Alyssa, Olivia, Emma, and Skylar sat around the table. And my wife was there, with little Paul, setting up her laptop for a Skype interview. In a moment, her mother appeared on the screen, projected on the wall.
"There we go," I said. "Guys, along with site visits and taking samples, the witness interview is the best thing you can do when some weird weather happens, like ball lightning or rivers turning red. Witnesses can tell you about the weird weather; chances are you weren't there to see it. Now, Michelle and her mom both saw it rain frogs in Georgia when my wife was a kid. So, we're going to interview them about it."
Paul, walking across the room with my wife's cell phone, said,"No weh! Bye! No weh! Bye!"
"That's right, it rained frogs," Michelle's mom said. "Thousands of them, all sizes, just falling down on the car."
"We were going to pick up my brother," said Michelle. "Around Brunswick, Georgia. And the frogs all of a sudden fell out of the sky. It was dark out; we saw them in the dark."
"What time of year was it?" I asked.
"Summertime," said Michelle's mother.
"So this would have been fairly late," I said. I was trying to sort of jump-start the kids; they can feel awkward during interviews at first. "In the summer, it doesn't get dark until after nine."
"How long did it last?" asked Emma.
"Bout ten minutes," said Michelle's mother.
"Nana!" said Paul.
"Were there any tadpoles?" Livvie asked. "Or just frogs?"
"Good one," I said.
"Just frogs," said Michelle's mother. "No tadpoles."
"What kind of area was it?" asked Emma. I'd known Skylar and Alyssa wouldn't be asking much; they were both fairly quiet.
"It was real swampy," said Michelle's mother.
"There were trees, though," said Michelle. "I remember trees."
"Yeah, they were far back from the road."
"I remember this different," said Michelle. "I thought the trees were closer."
"Could the frogs have been in the trees?" Livvie asked. "I read where they sometimes go up trees to lay eggs...."
"Could have been," said Michelle.
"That's a possibility," I agreed.
"What was the weather like?" asked Emma. "Before the frogs?"
"Rainy," said Michelle's mother.
"Not at first," said Michelle. "It was fine, and clear. And then it started to rain."
"Yeah, then it rained real hard."
"So...." Emma thought it through. "The rain could have knocked the frogs down...."
"Could have," I said. "Anyone have any other questions for our witnesses?"
Nothing.
"Okay, thanks," I said. Michelle shut off the computer. I hugged Paul. "Be home in an hour, little guy. Daddy loves you."
After my wife had left with Paul, I sat down with the kids.
"So, what did we think?"
Livvie frowned. "They didn't always remember it right."
"And that's typical," I said. "We're going back about thirty years here, so it's normal that they'd have discrepancies. You get those all the time with witnesses."
"I'd have thought your wife's mom would remember better, because she was older at the time," said Livvie. "But...."
I smiled. "Yeah. You can be honest. We know she's sort of flaky."
Emma laughed. "So it's hard to tell, about the frogs."
"True," I said. "But it's a good experience for you guys. Most witness interviews are like that. I've dealt with a few that have no credibility. Some are very reliable, but others are way out where the buses don't run." I looked around the table at the kids. "You guys have fun tonight? Learn anything?"
Heads nodded.
"Good. Next time, a visit from LHPS. See you guys then."
On my way home, I saw Alyssa and her mom sitting out in front of their place. I stopped to talk.
"Hey, kiddo," I said to Alyssa. "You have fun tonight?"
She grinned. "Oh, yeah. I was just telling my mom all about it."