I am allergic to tree pollen, so I faithfully take a Zyrtec tablet every day during this time of the year.  Needless to say, I was quite happy when Zyrtec recently went over-the-counter, since its price dropped substantially from its prescription-only days.  As much as I like my ENT doctor (he did sinus surgery on me in August 2006), I no longer have to bother him for free samples, or have his nurse call me in another refill.   

Well, I forgot to take my Zyrtec yesterday, so this morning, I woke up with a stopped-up nose and a splitting headache.  Miserable.  I took a couple of extra-strength Tylenol and a Zyrtec, hoping that would do the trick.

My headache had finally subsided a bit by this afternoon, but I still didn’t feel all that great for the remainder of the day.  I’ll try not to miss that Zyrtec tablet again until the tree pollen season is over.        

We live in a suburb about 10 miles from downtown Charleston.  We’ve lived in our present house for eleven years, and until last night, I’ve never heard spring peepers right in our own backyard.

Spring peepers are cute (well, I think so, anyway) little tree frogs that are found throughout West Virginia.  I was a zoology major during my first two years of college, and I took a herpetology class during my sophomore year.  More than 25 years later, I can still recall that the Latin name for spring peeper is Hyla crucifer because of the x-shaped marking on its back (crucifer = cross).  I loved that herpetology class.  If I had gone on to get my undergraduate degree in zoology instead of changing my major to criminal justice, I believe I would have ultimately become a herpetologist.  

Anyway, I digress.  Our back yard has a low-lying area that is prone to collecting runoff water.  We’ve had some rain here lately, so we currently have a substantial puddle of water in our back yard.  Some spring peepers have obviously moved in.  We could hear them rather faintly last night while we were eating dinner (in the front part of our house), but I could hear them loud and clear after I went to bed, since my bedroom faces our back yard. 

I stayed awake for awhile last night to enjoy their peeping, since it’s always a welcome sign that spring is on the way (that, and the fact that our grass is getting greener and longer by the day!).