It was a long wait but spring has finally sprung, and it was worth the wait to see the flowers and trees blooming, birds singing and bees and butterflies heralding spring's arrival.
The grandchildren and I enjoy getting outside every chance we get and even the dogs seem to think it’s their favorite time of year.
Our walks take a little longer while Opie stops to enjoy all the wonderful smells of honeysuckle, magnolias, roses and amaryllis. The same folks that were complaining about the cold winter are grumbling about something else now. My sweet and wise little Granny always said, "Sugar, they can’t help themselves, bless their hearts, they're special so you just have to overlook them and love them anyway."
As I get older, I understand more and more what Granny was telling me. There ares different kinds of people — good people, bad people, special people and those that are a special kind of stupid. She always said “April showers brings May flowers” but it also brings out plum stupidity in some folks. The change in weather can really do a number on some folks and the slightest mention of bad weather seems to make southerners go crazy. Of course, you can’t blame the change in weather for stupidity and you can’t fix it either even with a good smack across the head.
To help you understand what defines a special kind of stupid, I'm gonna share a few fine examples. You don’t have to look any further than the race for president of the United States. I don't know that I've seen a political race get so crazy and out of control. I don't know what Donald Trump's problem is but I'm not sure electing him as president is a sound idea.
A few weeks ago there was an ugly, heated protest at Stone Mountain Park centered on racism. What should have been a beautiful weekend outdoors to enjoy all that Stone Mountain offers was cut short because of ignorance, disrespect and plain stupidity. I understand a lot about the protest — the confederate memorial holiday and history behind it stirs up bad blood among some. Stone Mountain seemed a perfect place to draw attention to the protest because of the Confederate carvings. I understand that the very thought of racism, slavery and war makes people uneasy. In the aftermath that followed, there was much debate over who was in the wrong. Granted, some exercised defiant violence and disrespect for the law. But in my opinion, anyone who participated in this is wrong. What really astounds me is that people are protesting, fighting and blowing this way out of proportion. No amount of fighting will change history — even God himself couldn't stop this war and can't change history and he can’t fix stupid either.
There has also been sightings and reports of snakes — and that's just a little too early to suit me. There's been a dog bit by copperheads, my son has seen several in the lake house behind his house while fishing and a former neighbor has been posting pictures on Facebook of a big, black snake that has taken up residence around her house and even in the tree. Typically, it’s not until mid-summer we start seeing and hearing about snakes but around Easter, I was coming through the lovely little town of Monroe, and what I saw scared the heebie-jeebies out of me. I was the first in line at the traffic light, waiting to turn left and on the left hand corner was a young man with something around his neck and as I looked closer I could see it was the biggest, longest, ugliest snake I ever saw and I make it a point not to see snakes at all if I can help it. Time seemed to stand still waiting for that fella and his snake to cross the street in front of me and the light to change and I almost caught myself running that red light. Wouldn't you know, a week or two later I was passing through downtown Monroe again along Broad Street and there he was again with that snake. I've learned since then he has 5 snakes and he gets them out almost daily and walks through town with them.
As much as I'm enjoying this beautiful weather, spring seems like the shortest season of all. The heat, humidity and higher temperatures will take over soon and summer will seem like it will never end so make time to enjoy every crazy little moment while you can.
