Spring peepers and the greening

Last night, as I was preparing for bed, I heard clearly through a closed window...spring peepers!

SPRING PEEPERS! Do you know what that means!? Any idea what sort of excitement that unleashes in the hearts and minds of weary gardeners?

No?

Really?

Oh my. Well please....allow me to enlighten you. Pull up a seat and get comfy for a few moments, won't you.

Those chirpy little citizens are the real harbingers of spring. The true "town criers" of the change from winter to spring. Once the air is pierced by their nighttime song, you know winter is ushering itself out, and the lovely bright green of spring is truly under your feet and filling sleeping flower beds. Slowly, and nearly unnoticed by those in too big a hurry, buds appear in crafty and surreptitious ways and places. If you weren't looking for it (praying for it...eagerly awaiting it), the greens and yellows and crimsons of tulips, forsythias and maple trees would seem to spring from nowhere.

So many people think the first sign of spring is the return of the robin...but I tell you, it's the peepers! Open your windows and listen.

Better yet, step outside tonight, while the air is clear and still, and listen to the night sounds of April. Early spring is promising and romantic. It's full of life and excitement. It tells of what is to come. It is a new beginning.

Jeepers creepers...listen to those peepers!