April, Come She Has

Okay, so we’re not really selling up and moving to Tuscany . . . .

I can’t remember the last time I even tried to pull off an April Fool’s Day joke. I never remember to plan ahead, but the blog turned out to be the perfect mechanism for a prank. As I expected, very few people fell for it, which gratifies me. I like to think that my reader’s are sharper than the average blog reader, and I choose to believe that this little experiment proved it.

As an overly gullible child growing up, April has always filled me with a certain dread. The first day was a hurdle to get over. My older brother, Dave, loved practical jokes, so salt in the sugar bowl and other hazards were common. I remember the year that one ended—Mom and Dad made us trade cereal bowls after I’d sugared mine. I had a sweet tooth in those days, so they only required Dave to take one or two bites. Otherwise he would have died of saline poisoning!

Now that the day has safely passed, I can relax and enjoy the fact that the month is upon us. The herring sac roe fishery in Sitka is going strong. Facebook friends have posted some dramatic video of one of the boats heeling over from the weight of its catch. The run will soon reach our shores, signaling the first big outdoor project of the season, and an uptick in garden preparation. Daylight’s increasing, the current thaw seems to be serious. The nascent spring is advancing nicely. I think I expressed it pretty well on this day last year; today it feels much the same.

With the herring approaching, I need to throw myself even more in to firewood gathering while I still can. Soon enough, we’ll have our share of tasks and distractions, as we enter one of the best parts of our homestead year.