Winter Into Spring: Reflections on a Vernal Pool

It was a glorious blue-sky day in central Pennsylvania, and my husband and I went on a long hike in our local gameland. We rode our bikes about two miles and hiked for about four more miles. We came home tired as two worn-out pups, but happy as clams.

One of the most exciting bits of news is this: winter is losing its grip, and spring is taking over. The vernal pools have thawed, and many of them are full of amphibian eggs. For photographers, the thaw means reflection time is here. Oh, happy day for someone like me!

You may see one of my reflection shots above. If you peer closely at the lower left-hand corner, you'll see a white mass of eggs. In a few weeks, these woods will ring with the song of spring peepers. Though snow is still on the ground, the change has begun: spring has sprung and life begins anew.

In other news . . . I know that many of my Blip-friends are not U.S.-based, but surely you all heard the news about the marches that occurred on this day, protesting gun violence in the U.S. and demanding reasonable changes.

This particular protest march was led by the children, survivors of one of our latest mass shootings. It speaks poorly of us as a nation that there are so many of them: shootings of the innocent, I mean. So many beautiful lives lost. I don't know what I thought of these children before, but I watched them today, and I thought: hear them ROAR!

And I saw another news story that brought a tear to my eye, about an aging rocker who joined the march in New York City because, he said, "One of my best friends was shot not far from where we are right now." So it was that Paul honored John: "This [marching] is what we can do," he said. "So, I'm here to do it."

Change is coming! Out of the remnants of all that was old, new life begins. It is written on the winds. It is reflected on the waters. It is in the song of the brand new frogs. It is in the hopes of our children.

The soundtrack: Sam Cooke, with A Change Is Gonna Come.