Spring rains

To the editor:
    It is now well into April and the spring rains are falling. Unlike the cold rain of fall or winter, it is the springtime rain that is welcome. There is a moment when the trees are starkly bare against the sky. You know that they are just loaded with new leaves that are about to burst out. Time seems to hang for this brief moment as everyone is waiting for something new.
    A good spring rain is soft and almost an afterthought on the palette. Then it comes and minutes later it seems that the leaves and early blooms have erupted. It is the time when you forget that the world seems to be falling into an abyss, Instead, there is green everywhere! The trees and bushes are shaking off the winter doldrums the leaves rushing out to cover them. It’s that first paint stroke on the wall of the room you are remodeling.
    The birds are not to be outdone as this is about the time that they are busy with courting, nesting, and digging the worms out of the ground. Of course, those of us who would like to sleep in a little longer on the weekend are apt to find the air filled with the usual chortles and screeches as the family lives of the birds are played out around us. This of course is usually done at five in the morning and just outside the window. I have watched a bunch of house sparrows battling it out for prime nesting spots outside my apartment and it is an impressive fight. Even the pigeons and crows had to stop and watch. Swooping and chattering the different newlyweds are in fine form. The bush that they are arguing about is densely packed with leaves and branches. Plenty of spots to hide in but the developer wants to limit access to a small number of home owners. Feathers are flying! They will soon sort it out I am sure.
    Spring is a time of change. I noted in my previous column the fact that there were few locally produced gifts in the various tourist gift shops in our nation’s capital. It would be nice to see the local weekly papers in the White House gift shop. It would also be nice to see the handicrafts and art works of the citizens of the country on display on the shelves that now sell the silly garbage of handcuffs, plastic vomit, and other trinkets designed to appeal to the baser instincts of the touring public. Marine One helicopters are a sight to see. But what about the small gifts that speak to the everyday and ordinary? The county is lucky to have a rich and creative workforce. Yet, one will not find any county-made products in the gift shops of the nation’s capital. There are no samples of potato chips, wood products, artwork, or metal work for other people to see. You will not find the Star-Herald on sale there or nearby. Few will know about the 150th birthday celebrations nor the people who made them possible. That is a pity.
    Why the gift buyers of the official gift shops do not routinely visit the county and the rest of the country is a mystery. Bureaucrats in Washington tend to be fearful of travel and no doubt there is probably some national security reason why they do not go out and find these gems. But if this country is safe for Senators and Representatives to visit then it should be safe enough for mundane petty officials to go out and meet the people that pay them. If there is to be a rebirth of small industry through out the country, then we need to see these objects on display. Sadly, despite the efforts of our leadership, this door is effectively closed to our work. Perhaps it is time to look for our own spring rain.