Spring is here, if we must judge by the increased landscaping sounds in my neighborhood in the last few days. Suddenly, everybody is out doing something in their yard.

Thursdays are trash collection days. Since my yard debris bin was empty and I was encouraged by all the activity around me, I decided it would be a good time to rake the pine needles that had been filling our yard for the last few weeks. And so I did. After that, I thought I’d open the irrigation water valve and briefly turn the sprinklers on to check if the system is good after the winter. I’ll have to reposition some of the heads; otherwise, all looks great.

I know it’s irrational, but I’m always anxious when I have to open the sprinkler valve box to turn the system on. It’s like strange and dangerous animals are waiting to rip off my hand. Although that has never happened (so far), I am always amazed to find that there seems to be a lot of life in there. I opened the cover, and a little Pacific chorus frog quickly jumped in fear, scaring me in turn. Can a frog have a fulfilling life inside a valve box? How did it get there? Are there others? How do they reproduce, and how can all that happen without me seeing anything else than a single frog? Why do I have that many questions?

Other than the frog, at least two nervous spiders and an indifferent leopard slug were also spending their April 9 in my irrigation valve box. As soon as I finished turning the system on, I put the cover back and left them alone, and hopefully I will not need to revisit them, anxious again, until Winter approaches.