March break

Kids are off school, teachers are home too. Airports are crowded and vacations are really expensive, and those who stay behind feel smug and clever. Home improvement projects are all the rage, helped along by warmer weather which means we can all venture outside again. Rake the lawn, paint the fence, wash the car, finish the basement .. the list never ends.

Besides the work though, March break has a taste to it - a definite feel. After this the balance of the school year is all down-hill, and the first tinglings of an approaching summer starts to rustle in your belly. It's time to really take the Christmas lights down - it's become a little obscene to leave them up longer. It's an insult to the tulips about to pop from the ground. And the smell - it smells again - the defrosted, wet smell of the land, baking in the 12 degree noon-day sun. Smell is good - winter doesn't smell, it just makes your nose hair constrict if you breathe deeply. But March break smells of life awakening all around.

March break is good. On many levels. Even without a tan to show off after wards.