When I drove up the driveway last evening, after attending a meeting, hubby greeted me saying “Listen…!” And sure enough, I could hear the sound of the encroaching spring. Listen for yourself:
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I’m not much of a naturalist. I’m vaguely aware of a few bird species, and hubby has taught me quite a bit about flowers and other plants, but I’ve acquired this knowledge casually, not by actually pursuing it, as a student passionate about wildlife biology might. There are many things I don’t know about the natural world around me because I lack that level of passion. However, there are sometimes natural elements in the environment that just can’t be ignored, and these are things that everybody notices, whether they want to or not. We use them to mark transitions of the year: the leaves turning from green to showy colors in the fall; the first snow of winter; the first thunderstorm of the year; the first fireflies of the summer. In the rural northeast, one of these events is the reawakening of the peepers.
I grew up in Baltimore, where, as far as I know, there are no peepers. At least I never heard them in my first 20 years. Then I departed for northern climes, north to New York State, in 1981. for graduate school. And in March of 1982, I heard that high chirping sound and wondered what the heck that was. Someone more knowledgeable than I explained that these were frogs called spring peepers, and that this was their mating call. I enjoyed hearing their calls while I lived in New York, as it always indicated (far more reliably than any groundhog on Feb. 2) that the winter was near its end.
After I obtained my degree, I left the northeast to sample life in other parts of the country. About ten years later, I landed back in the land where peepers announce the spring, and it was comforting to hear them again. And they’re now making their happy noise in the early evening, and presumably having sexytimes in swamps and ditches everywhere. I expect that, no matter how badly we screw up the environment, the peepers will always be there, reminding whoever is listening that spring has returned.
Now, on to the comments!
No comment submissions tonight, I am sorry to say. Please add any you saw in the comment threads!
Some comment highlights:
Highlighted by fonsia, this comment by nobody at all (that's the handle, honest!) talks about the bigger fight beyond the primary, for the good of the country and the world.
Highlighted by mellowinman, is this fine comment by David54, that led, in turn, to THIS comment, by GoodGod. Please read!
Highlighted by Mopshell, this comment by KroneckerD nails Drumpf (Christie and Carson!) on the musical chairs VP speculation, following this comment, also by KroneckerD.
Top Mojo ala mik!
For Thursday, Mar. 10, 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on the subject.
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