Anyone who knows me even slightly soon discovers my affection for amphibians. This love often, particularly in the early spring when the frogs and salamanders emerge from winter sleep to court and mate in the local vernal pools, lures me out at night in the wettest weather imaginable. But this evening, with a fine mist in the air after an all-day downpour, was not a time I had any expectations of finding one of my "friends," whom, I imagined, had gone into hiding from the cold for the season. One little guy had other plans and was exploring a pile of recently delivered firewood, perhaps in search of a suitable refuge. The Spotted Salamander, a handsome member of his species, was about several inches long, so I'm guessing he was a member of the Class of 2017, not this year's crew. Perhaps he'd been here before and knew that the area around and under the wood rack offered shelter and bugs. It certainly afforded me a splendid photo op, and with the dSLR in its raincoat, I captured the Spottie's walkabout.