APRIL!

How's your April shaping up? We're past the halfway mark, and in three more days, it'll be Easter. In my neck of the woods, Easter is the unofficial benchmark for the true arrival of spring.

That said, I have to report temps in the upper 60s and lower 70s, off an on . . . . This has to be the most quixotic weather northeast Indiana has known. And I've been here 56 years.

Apparently the wildlife can tolerate our 60s followed by 40s followed by 50s followed by 30s. As I write this, robins make the rounds of the natural cafeteria my lawn offers. Baby grackles have been haunting my feeders for a couple of weeks. Squirrels chase each other and themselves up and down and around the big maples out front.

Grass is green. Really really green. And it'll need to meet the lawnmower in a few more days.

School buses make the rounds every morning. Before we know it, school will be out. Only another six or seven weeks to go. 

And it's nearly time for the blooming of the garage sales.

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While we wait for events, here are a few thoughts from other folks who've pondered April:

Alan Alda: When I was about ten years old, I gave my teacher an April Fool's sandwich, which had a dead goldfish in it.

Mark Twain:  The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.

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Here's what Christopher Columbus wrote after he reached our continent:

The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.

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And here's one that made me catch my breath; I know just what he means:

Edward Carpenter: In April 1882 my father died; and I was at once whirled out of my land of dreams into a very different sphere.

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I'm still following Heather Lende's philosophy, "Find the Good." It's there--somewhere--but we may have to search diligently. Worth the effort.