I heard peeper toads today at sunset,
finally. This is the first harbinger of spring really for me. Sure,
the robins return but they don't follow a set schedule, the peepers
are better at that. Very few people have seen a peeper and neither
have I. They're tiny, shy and disappear soon after the first warm
days of spring to do whatever peepers do under the leaf litter. The
other sign is skunk cabbage, which pokes it's disgusting head out of
the mud of marshes early on. You don't want to get too close to a
skunk cabbage for the reason it's named. Up close they reek to God
Almighty. But I have to acknowledge the fact these bizarre things are
another sign.
Winter. Each one that passes I always
say “I'm done with it.” There are the obvious physical pressures
you have to deal with but the mental tension of chronic cold and snow
are worse. After taking out the heavier clothing, re-learing to walk
on craggy ice and the quiet bitching I do is all I can do to endure
it. I can deal with winter but the defenses to it
aren't healthy. Hiding and escaping under a quilt at night, copping
out of a social event due to “ah, it's too cold to go out” and
generally rolling up like a squirrel in his nest does nothing to keep
me united with the rest of humanity.
One winter I once saw a nest of field
mice accidentally uncovered by some EPA men at the woods bordering my
town who were surveying the river banks. There were three tiny balls
of grey fur, slightly stiff and cold. Once exposed to the sunlight
they started to stir slightly. In a way I understood how they felt.
Hunker down and survive!
But, spring is here now.
As a teen, young man in my 20's spring
was a huge relief. It helped to uncover my energy and optimism. And
then there were the girls, who tossed off those layers of clothing
and now sported stuff that showed those all alluring curves. Life
has returned.
“Spring is one, giant, big fuck.”
This was said to the entire class of Biology 101 at the Life Sciences
building at RIC one time. I sat in attendance while the gray hair
professor tried to connect and explain to his class how life on Earth
responds to spring. “The first thing is to produce energy producing
leaves, the next is to sperm the entire atmosphere with pollen to
awaiting flowers!” This analogy wasn't lost on the 19 year olds in
the classroom.
It was never a pilgrimage of mine but
it became one incidentally. I would walk around the East Side by
Brown and RISDI on warm days and eventually come to the “beach”
by Waterman and Benefit. These grassy commons had people lying out,
playing Frisbee and I'd stop by, to gawk at people and peruse the
girls from behind my knockoff Raybans. All the time warmed by that
sun. It was very relaxing.
Soon enough my windows and doors will
be open all day to let that breeze in. Music will waft from my stereo
to the street. I can stop wearing the now ragged (and possibly
slightly stinky) sheepskin sweater/jacket I have on while in this
house. In enough time, I'll be barefoot as much as I can till early
October.
I can now let go of that steeliness of
mind one needs to tolerate -5 degree mornings. Liberation has
arrived and it's about time. So I will say once again,
“I'm done with winter.”
Spring Peepers. You Usually Never See Them and They are This Tiny
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