The vernal equinox may still officially be one week away, but spring has already begun. The peepers are here!

I listened for them last night, for they usually emerge this time of year around my neighbor’s lush pond. Herons come occasionally there, too, and the pond is annually stocked with very large fish. It is fed by a tiny stream that runs throughout our neighborhood, widening into a pair of stepped ponds right on my neighbor’s property. They are joined by a gentle waterfall and spill out into the ravine that rises once more on the other side before it dives into Greenspring valley.

My neighbor’s living room overlooks this water delight. I am jealous. But then again, he works very hard to keep it so beautiful.

So, I listened last night for the peepers, thinking that any day they will appear. But I heard nothing.

Then this evening, when I stepped outside the Verizon store in Pikesville, I was overwhelmed by a robust, very loud chorus of peepers! Evidently, between the strip mall and the apartments just south of there, a series of ponds plays host to a whole congregation of peepers. For there they were, singing their little (and they are little) hearts out, hoping for love and the ability to mate. That seems to be their primary task this time of year.

The air was redolent with the soft smells of spring, with nature stirring, loosening, awakening. The peepers seemed to be calling not only to each other but to us as well, that we too should rouse ourselves and shake off the dust (or ashes) from our cozy winter nesting, open wide our arms and breathe in the fresh air of a new year.

I hope to make one or two more fires in my stove, and then retire it for the duration, til fall calls me back.

And I have all but given up on one last, welcome blast of a snow storm.

Not to worry! I have plenty of wood to work on over the summer to keep me happy.