It’s 5:30AM on Sunday, March 21st. With water bottle in hand and headlamp on, I head out the door and begin my morning long run. It’s officially been spring since 1:32PM ET yesterday but the temperature at this hour is still chilly. Regardless, it’s much better than the sub-freezing mornings of just a few weeks ago and a pair of shorts and a light, long-sleeve T-shirt suffice. I round the corner on to my first major road of the morning and head downhill to a depression between a small pond and a cranberry bog. As I approach the bottom, I hear a sound off to my right, the unmistakable chirp of the early risers of the spring peeper population. They made no sounds yesterday morning or last night but somehow they know that this morning it is spring and they’re attacking it with all of their gusto. It’s uncanny how a small amphibian is able to detect subtle changes in light and temperature and know that it’s the equinox. Perhaps the peepers are more technically adept than we imagine.

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