Going Home: Further Signs of Spring!

"Home is where the heart is." - Pliny the Elder.

It's spring break week, and the local weather has been cooperating like a champ. We had several very warm (almost too-warm) summer-like days early in the week, followed by a steady overnight rain Thursday that ushered in cooler, somewhat more seasonal temperatures for this day. I have not marked a whole vacation day from work since late October, and so we decided that I would do that on this day.

I mentioned to my husband last weekend that one of these first nice days in March, I wanted to go visit my parents, whom we had not seen since Christmas. And so between us, we decided that that was what we would do with my vacation day: take a trip back home. And we'd heard a happy rumor that the local creme stop (an informal roadside restaurant that sells soft-serve ice cream and various quick snacks and meals) had just opened last weekend; wouldn't it be nice if we might fit in a tasty meal from there? So home we went!

We arrived at my parents' house right around the stroke of noon, and the very FIRST thing I heard when I stepped out of the car was the sweet, musical sound of spring peepers. We called and ordered lunch from the Creme Stop, and while my husband and father went to go pick it up, I quickly ran down to the little woods pond below my parents' house with my camera to check for peepers.

Spring peepers are little frogs that make a tremendous racket. They return each spring to the pond where they were born and begin the life cycle again. I've heard their song compared to the sound of sleigh bells, and indeed, it is a sweet and joyful sound, which can be amazingly loud. However, when you approach a pond, the song usually stops, and the sudden silence can be deafening. If you wait a few minutes, they will often start back up again.

The little pond is the main photo above. It is about medium-sized right now. In summer, it pretty much disappears. In winter, it can grow much larger as the water freezes. In fact, as a child, I learned to ice skate on this pond when it was frozen; I bought my first cassette tape player/recorder in the 1970s, and I would take my music along and pretend to be a beautiful, graceful ice skater; skating on the pond all by myself, listening to my tunes.

We also played hockey on it, and I remember well some rousing battles that took place on this ice! (Rule of thumb: giving a group of adolescents hockey clubs has its risks.) But now, the pond no longer rings with the laughter and games of our family and our cousins. But it still alive with the song of peepers, and happy memories.

I found what I was looking for at the far end of the pond: an embarrassment of riches. Amphibian eggs! At least one kind, possibly two. I am thinking they were most likely wood frog eggs at this point in the season, but I am not an expert, so I cannot be sure. I do want to include links so that you may learn more about peepers and hear their song (click on the "audio" link) for yourself.

Shortly after I went back inside my parents' house, my dad and husband arrived with FOOD! My typical meal from the Creme Stop is a steak hoagie with tomato dressing, french fries, and a small vanilla shake. I took a picture of my meal and placed it in the extras so that you may enjoy it too. (A big thanks to my mom for allowing me to borrow her fries as a stand-in; for I'd had fries the day before, so I didn't order them on this day).

My husband and I visited for about two hours. We would have stayed longer, but we had plans to stop at the Laurel Creek Reservoir for a short hike in the Seven Mountains on our way back home. So before we took our farewells, I asked my parents to do me the favor of posing for a few snapshots. A photo of my parents is included in the extras.

I had just asked them for pictures, and they were laughing and straightening their hair, when I took this shot. It is much more gleeful than any of the more posed photos I took of them, and I love that both of my parents look healthy and happy and still in love. This year they will both turn 86; in June, they will celebrate 66 years of wedded bliss. We are blessed by them, and I am so thankful I got to visit them on this beautiful day.

So here are my pictures of THREE further signs of spring: a vernal pool loaded with amphibian eggs and surrounded by the cries of peepers; a fine meal from the local Creme Stop which has just recently opened; and a visit with family in good weather (for surely, still, this time of year, one can only travel when the weather permits; despite the recent bit of very warm weather, I do not believe winter is quite done with us yet!)

The song I've chosen to accompany these three images that make my heart swell to almost bursting is by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles, Who Says You Can't Go Home.  :-)   :-)    :-)

It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go
If it's a million miles aways or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go,
who says you can't go home?