As we were riding, viewing, and just enjoying all of nature that comes with the springtime, suddenly I heard them. "Stop the car and listen," I told my husband David. "Music to my ears he said, I love it!!" It was the little Spring peep frogs.
He was so excited because they have a special significance to us. For a few years David couldn't hear them! I believe the noise of the brick plant where he worked for 40 years finally paid a toll on him.
Then, a few years ago when he was having a serious health issue, and we were praying for a healing, it went farther than what we were talking to God about. His hearing got better! Some of the things he couldn't enjoy for several years, he could now hear again. The little Spring Peepers frogs are one of the things he just couldn't hear!
We find them fascinating. Years ago, I remember the time when he could hear them, and David and I walked up to a little branch where the sound of the tiny peepers was filling the air. They were so loud we could hardly hear each other talk. Suddenly, they stopped! Not tapered off, abruptly stopped! We stood and listened and not a peep. As we turned to walk away, they all began their song again at the very same moment. Amazing! Do they have a conductor?
A few years ago, we discovered something we found fascinating as well, while on our ride. We saw trees full of nest, and assumed it was a Crow's rookery. Then later when we drove by another day we were amazed! Almost every nest had a Blue Heron either nesting or standing! We have taken pictures of them for years by creeks, rivers, and ponds. And just assumed they had nest in the weeds. Of course, we have taken many pictures of them since then, but the one in picture is an example of how you will identify the nest. This week we happened to go by to check one of the areas where there are several trees full of nests. They were just arriving. I took a video of them. After that we drove to the other location, and they were arriving there too.
We have been watching the signals for a month. All the geese and other birds are pairing off and starting their nest's. We have a video of the Mama Killdeer with her baby chicks. They are so cute to watch as they seem to run their little legs off. The parents are funny the way they pull the "broken wing" act. They flutter along the ground to look injured to lead intruders away from their nest.
David and I enjoy eagle watching this time of the year. A few live here year-round, but many come back here to nest this time of the year. They have kept us busy the last couple months watching all their nest and we discovered several new one's this year. Hardly a day passed without us seeing an eagle, and some days we see several. They have begun nesting and any day now the little baby Eaglets will be sticking their little grey heads out of the nest.
Of course, It's the time of year the turkeys beginning to gobble. A few years ago, David got me a camouflage cap with leaves all over it to wear when we were turkey hunting. I hadn't been wearing it, preferring my big piece of flannel camouflage material I had bought and made a scarf with. That year I tried it on and decided to wear it. David said, "It makes you look young." I said, "Maybe I could wear it to church." He said no... Anyway, when I wear it in stores, I get a lot of smiles.
I went in a store one day to pick up some fried chicken for our lunch picnic wearing the hat. The young man who waited on me said, "Did you catch a turkey?" David laughed and said, "You should have told him, yes, but this is catch and release day. That would really make him confused."
We made it through the winter and now are enjoying the "icing on the cake of life" as my father-in-law used to say, it is springtime! Now neighbors and friends will have relief from the pro-PAIN trucks that seemed to visit them too often during the winter. This was a mild winter though for the most part and even our yard pretty much stayed green.
Flowers and trees are blooming, and neighbors are out in their yards making plans. Gardening is beginning, our youngest son Eric who likes to garden, has already got some early things planted.
Little chickens are being delivered. We talk about the days when we picked up 300 baby chicks at a time. Fields are dotted with baby calves, just beauty everywhere you look!
Fishing poles being readied. Mushroom hunting talk is beginning to be the main topic of conversation, and the wild greens will be ready to pick soon. And don't you just love the smell of all the blooms coming through your window? We ride with car windows down, hair blowing wild, but get to enjoy all the sights, sounds and smells.
Farmers are out in the fields and soon the plowed grounds will turn into green fields of beauty. We will watch the seedlings and be amazed at how fast they seem to grow. David and I have a special appreciation for the farm families who work long days and constantly look for better ways to keep the world fed as well as supply us with other things we rely on. We are always praying for rain in due season.
We have had birds of every kind and color eating together at our feeders all winter. I never see them fight. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all people could get along that well. Soon their feeders will come down and David will be preparing for the hundred hummingbirds he feeds all summer.
I love Missouri and I can't imagine living any other place. We have it all. Mountains, rivers, plains, anything you could want, and we get to enjoy all the seasons and all the marvelous things they each have to offer. Many say this is their favorite time of the year, It's here... It's Springtime awakening in Missouri, and all nature is blooming.
Dorothy Kleindienst