Spring to it

Isn't it great. The temperature is rising, days are longer, snow is melting, and there seems to be a few more smiles on faces and a quickness in everyone's steps thatw asn't there just two or three weeks ago.

Spring is here, with all its beauty. However, Mother Nature does require some assistance in bringing the palette of Spring and Summer colours to life.

As energizing as it is when the snow melts, the remnants of what lay on the ground before and what was fossilized after the white stuff came is becoming a more prominent site.

Sadly, much of it looks to be a sight for sore eyes.

Cigarette butts can be frequently found alongside the sidewalks winding through Gander. There's also the scattered shopping or chip bag, piece of newspaper (hopefully not this piece), and other paper and cardboard materials crumpled up and left to waste away.

Most noticeable are the many, many paper coffee cups and other beverage containers crunched into flat pieces of garbage. If you have kids in the car and are in need of a game to divert their attention while trying to have a relatively peaceful drive, offer the suggestion that they count the containers - a modern day game of Buggy Punch, so to speak.

Be it a park, a ditch along the road, or any number of parking lots, these overwhelming guilt-inducers are impossible to ignore. At least you would think that is the case.

Unfortunately, their presence outside of a waste bin tends to highlight the problem - people are ignoring the fact they are littering and generally making what should be a beautiful time of year look ugly.

However, the disappearing snow also provides an opportunity to help Mother Nature create a canvas ready to receive flicks of nature's multiple colours.

Yes, it's true the Town of Gander has opted out of this year's Tidy Towns competition, but this shouldn't deter residents from lending a hand in creating a community of beauty.

And while other towns in the area are still signed up, this provincial competition shouldn't be the basis for making one's property or town look nice.

It should be sense of pride, whether it is for one's own yard or the community as a whole, that energizes one to look out their front door, or car window as they drive a local street, to see the ugliness and want to do something about it.

Doing your part to help Mother Nature get Spring started on a beautiful note is as simple as walking around your property and giving it a good hard look. Beyond that, taking a short walk up your street while keeping your eyes glued to the ground can be a solid exercise in tidying your neighbourhood - just be careful to watch for oncoming joggers, runners, skateboarders, cyclists, and whatnot if you have your head down.

Remember, many hands doing a little work, adds up to a lot being accomplished. And when you hear comments on how clean and beautiful your town is, you can feel a sense of pride you did your little part.

Various towns in the area will be announcing Spring cleanup days in the very near future, however one should not wait until then. It makes things easier to take a few minutes each day to do a little cleanup prior to the mandated town dates, so when the day comes, you're ready and not hurrying about trying and possibly not getting as much done as you would have liked.

For commerce junkies out there, keep in mind a good-looking town can mean opportunities for business. So tidying is both an environmentally responsible practice, and also a sound economic one.

So get cracking and show your community pride.