As April takes her leave, her temperatures remain behind. The opening of May appears unseasonable, with the chance of light snow next Monday and Tuesday. For the first week, expect mostly cloudy and dreary conditions, and the grasses and town yards will likely stay brown a while longer. In the low places and along the edges of the woods, the first signs of spring are beginning to show. Bloodroot in bloom and the leaves of marsh marigold turning green, which are easily missed if a man keeps his eyes only ahead.
The town is beginning to stir after winter. Construction has started on The People’s Supply’s new building, and the coming tourist season is expected to be a busy one. At the same time, the lack of snow and rain through April has left the woods dry. The state and U.S. Forest Service are preparing for a difficult forest fire season and ask that any fires discovered be put out at once, which is sound advice even when the season is less inclined that way.
On May 14th, the Class of 1926 will present Booth Tarkington’s The Intimate Stranger. The play concerns a man and a lady, both single, who find themselves stranded by a storm in a small railway station without food. Miss Fjell has invited me to accompany her, and I expect to attend.
After four months of winter, the change is plain enough. The town comes back into motion, building again out of the hills and woods. New work begins, and older work is set right. Willa Cather wrote that “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” One sees something of that here each spring. People wait through the long season for this time, and when it comes, they set about their work without much remark, which is often how the most important things are done.