Spring Melange

Lilac buds ready to burst.

For those who are following the charter school doings, don't forget there is a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting tomorrow night (Monday, March 22), 7 p.m. at City Hall Library. The application is for the Barack Obama Green Charter School. Click here for Plaintalker's previous post.

Trumpeting the news: It's Spring!

On Tuesday, I hope to be well enough to help out with newsletter folding at my church. This is expected to be the last bulk mailing, as new postal regulations have made it necessary to go to an electronic newsletter format, with hard copies for those who don't use computers. The new rules required our church secretary to take the bulk mail to Rahway instead of the main post office on Watchung Avenue. Also we could no longer staple the newsletter closed, but had to use sticky wafer discs to seal at three or four points around each newsletter. This doubled the preparation time. Although volunteers were still willing to do that chore, the imposition on the secretary's time was too much. Plaintalker wrote about this subject a few months ago. It is affecting both commercial businesses and community organizations. Note to self: Buy stock in wafer disc companies.

Unfolding.

How appropriate for this season, when so many issues are unfolding. Fourteen candidates have filed for four school board seats. The slates are emerging, even though the school board election is supposedly non-partisan. Soon candidates will have to file for the June primary. There are myriad considerations emerging and people need to keep track of the moves. Plaintalker will try to report on the nuances. Don't forget, you must register by March 30 in order to be eligible to vote in the school board election.

Our former neighbor Edna left us many beautiful spring bulbs.

As always, I find solace in the turns of the seasons, no matter what is going on in the political or material world. Nature has its own timetable, which is reassuring in the face of human vagaries.

Pieris Japonica, or Lily of the Valley Bush.

Take a stroll around your neighborhood and allow time to look closely at what is in bloom. And then do the same once a week until the growing season is over. It is a great antidote to worries over money, where to live and what to do next. Just take in the beauty for a while. And please make the Shakespeare Garden in Cedar Brook Park part of your regimen. The gallant ladies of the Plainfield Garden Club have begun tending the garden for your enjoyment and meditation.

--Bernice Paglia