I know last Sunday was Earth Day, and there were lots of large public celebrations reminding us to take good care of the planet. But I have always tried to keep my relationship with the planet low key, sitting in the sun for hours on end waiting for a mole to pop out of his hole, or some such display of relaxed vigilance. That is why I have always preferred Arbor Day to Earth Day. People who celebrate Arbor Day tend to do so by digging a hole and planting a tree. It doesn’t take a crowd. Just a shovel and some luck in avoiding roots and stones.

In case you missed Earth Day, and haven’t got yourself a tree to plant for Arbor Day, you can still do something for the planet by participating in “Lose the Litter Day” on Sunday. The event is sponsored by the Junior Women’s Club and the Lions Club this year, and people willing to pick up trash from the roadsides can get bags and encouragement from 9 am to 1 pm in front of the Middle School. Once you have cleaned up your road or favorite stretch of street, you can drop off the trash at the nearest firehouse, where it will be picked up and hauled away.

I never have understood why this annual event is called “Lose the Litter Day,” however. Isn’t the litter already lost, and all the volunteer go out and find it? Why would we want to lose it again? Maybe someday, someone will tell me.

As the results from Tuesday’s budget referendum were being read off, Board of Education member Vincent Saviano’s mobile telephone began to ring to the tune of the “Lone Ranger.” The crowd, sensing victory, laughed at the timing of the call.

“Don’t celebrate yet,” joked school supporter Joe Hemingway.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and his wife, Michelle, recently returned from a trip to San Antonio, and while Herb attended conferences, Michelle made three separate trips to the Alamo. A fifth grade teacher in Danbury, Michelle said she plans to use the experience to help in her American history teaching. And, after making three trips to the Alamo, there’s no doubt she’ll remember it.

Congratulations to former Newtown resident Harriet Decatur Lounsbury, who has won a free one-month extension to her subscription to The Newtown Bee. Harriet, who now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, correctly identified the man “caught up the throes of Mardi Gras” while on a recent island vacation as Jack Senese, formerly of Taunton Hill Road. Jack’s picture was included in this column in the April 13 edition.

Susan and Jennifer Baiad surprised their parents, Tony and Peggy, on the occasion of their 35th wedding anniversary with a gathering at The Inn at Newtown on April 16. Friends Sally and Joe Ratyna and Father Bob Weiss assisted and made certain that the overly inquisitive Peggy was completely surprised.

And speaking of long-term wedded bliss, Frank LaPak and his wife, Ellen, recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.

Newtown Congregational Cooperative Nursery director Kathy Murdy took a trip down to South Carolina for spring break. She said she is used to hearing Mrs Murdy, Mrs Murdy while at school, but was bit cautious at Bradley Airport when she heard Mrs Murdy, Mrs Murdy! Come to find out one of her students’ parents was taking a trip too!

I feel like I’m walking on air when I’m walking through the main corridor at the town land use agency at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills. New blue carpet, and underlying new carpet padding, has been installed, giving a certain bounce and lilt to the step when one approaches the land use agency counter seeking a lot line revision or tag sale permit.

I visited the police station this week and who was busy at work but custodian Mike Snyder, cleaning up the place. Mike cleaned some carpets, replaced some burnt-out light bulbs, and disposed of refuse in seeking to keep the premises tidy and in good working order. Besides the police station, Mike maintains the town’s Town Hall South office complex directly below the station.

In casting about Monday during a burst of balmy spring weather, I couldn’t help but notice a profusion of various daffodils at The Pleasance at the corner of Main and Sugar. What a treat for the nature lover or the photographer seeking to capture some high-chroma content on film or magnetic media.

The members of Women Involved in Newtown are planning a Spring Tea to raise money to help local charitable and civic organizations. The event will take place on May 5, from 3 to 5 pm at Edmond Town Hall. WIN members are encouraging everyone to bring their mom, daughter, aunt, grandmother, or friend to this special event. Call 364-0871 or 364-0312 for tickets.

Members of Newtown Business & Professional Women have a jam-packed agenda for their next meeting on Monday, May 7. Not only is fitness trainer Karen Finlayson speaking, but the club also is installing new officers, presenting the Young Careerist Award, and awarding two scholarships. The crowded agenda is the result of two sudden, severe snowstorms this winter which caused the cancellation of two regular dinner meetings.

Jack and Beryl Harrison’s menagerie of pets seems to make it into the news quite often. Like when Sean, their 11-year-old border collie, fell through the ice on their pond on Christmas Day 1999 and was rescued by volunteer firemen. Or when Bonnie, another border collie, became the queen dog in The Bee’s dog contest. Not to mention the three feral cats that Beryl rescued from behind the Booth Library when the addition was being constructed. After a brief sojourn in the heating ducts in the Harrison home, the cats have lived like queens in the guest bedroom.

This week the Harrison household is in mourning, however, for their six-year-old border collie, Auggie, son of Bonnie, who died last weekend. Auggie’s life may have been too short, but he couldn’t have picked a better household to live in than that of the Harrisons, who are always willing and eager to invite these friends into their hearts.

On the sad note of Auggie’s passing, I must put down my pen and reflect for a while. But I’ll be picking it up again next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.