SPRING PEEPERS

It had been a long overdue beautiful Spring day, and as night was falling I was getting settled on the couch for some TV surfing. I'd just picked up the remote when my husband Steven walked into the living room and stopped. “Is it hot in here?” he asked.

It was an unfamiliar question because up until then it had been a very cold Spring. I hadn't gotten a chance to answer him before he went over to the thermostat. “I'm going to put the air conditioning on.”

“Wait!” I called. “Why don't we open the windows instead? It's beautiful out!”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, why not.” He went over to the dining room window, unlatched the lock, and pulled it open. He took a deep breath. “Wow! You can smell the hyacinths I gave you for Easter!”

I went over to the window and inhaled. “They smell so good!” While I was enjoying their fragrance I stopped for a moment to listen. “Are those spring peepers I'm hearing?”

Steven listened. “Sure sounds like it.”

“Oh my gosh, I love the sound of spring peepers!” I'd noticed we had some little frogs in the yard but I had no idea they were peepers. I went over to the kitchen door. “Do you want to come out and sit on the porch and listen to them with me?”

“Sure, why not.”

Once we were sitting in our chairs and had been listening to them for a while I began to wonder. “You know, the last time I remember listening to them was when we lived on the river.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” The peepers were making quiet a lot of noise now. “Don't they have to be by water?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I thought they lived in the woods.”

“I think they live in the woods but they have to lay their eggs in water.” I took my phone out of my pocket and began typing in my question. When the link came up I began to get upset. “They do live in the woods and hibernate there in the winter but in the spring they need to be by water!” I looked over at Steven. “How close is the nearest body of water?”

Steven thought about it for a moment. “I'm going to say a couple of miles.”

Now I really was getting upset. “How are the peepers in our woods going to be able to travel a couple of miles?” I cried.

Steven sighed. “I'm sure they'll figure it out.”

“Oh, come on Steven! They're in our woods, singing their little hearts out, looking for a mate, and they're going to hop a few miles from here to have their babies!” I was feeling sorry for our poor misguided peepers. “They'll never make it!”

Our son Alex came out the back door. “What are you guys up to?” he asked.

“Your Mom wanted to come out here and listen to the Spring peepers.” Steven said as Alex walked over to the glider and sat down.

“Oh is that what that noise is?” he asked. “What are they?”

“They're little frogs.” I explained. “When we were living by the river it was one of the first signs that Spring was really here.” I held up my phone. “But I just realized that they need to be by water to lay their eggs and your Dad says the nearest body of water is a few miles away!”

Steven looked over at Alex. “Your Mom's worried that they won't be able to make it there.”

Alex looked over at me and started to laugh. “So, what are you going to do? Go out in our woods and started catching them so you can drive them to the river?”

Steven slowly shook his head. “I really wish you hadn't said that Alex.”

I smiled as I looked over at Alex. “You know, when I was a kid, I was really good at catching frogs.”

“Are you serious?” Alex seemed surprised.

Now it was my turn to laugh as I got up and walked over to him. “No, but I love the fact that you think I'd do something like that.” I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.