I’m fairly confident that if you are reading this, you are not a superstitious person. It is Friday the 13th and you have chosen to read a column by a black cat. For all I know you could be walking under a ladder as you read this, on your way to retrieve the broken mirror that just fell off the wall. Whatever. We all make our own luck, right? So let’s do something about this unlucky April weather and get things back on track for spring.

I’m looking forward to spending more time outside, celebrating Arbor Day, Earth Day, and all the other celebrations of the great outdoors that are coming up on the calendar. One of my favorites is Newtown Lions Club’s annual Lose the Litter Day, which is scheduled this year for Saturday, April 28, from 9 am to 1 pm. This will be Newtown’s 18th Lose the Litter Day. The project was started by Judy Holmes and the Newtown Environmental Action Team, which ran the program for the first six years. The Lions have continued the project in recent years. While I love the event, I’m not so wild about the name. It doesn’t really make sense. Shouldn’t it be called Find the Litter Day? Regardless of what it is called, anyone interested in more information or in volunteering for a particular road may call Lincoln Sander at 364-1833.

It is always nice to know that gestures of goodwill are appreciated. The Newtown Woman’s Club, GFWC, received a lovely letter this past week from Lt Elliott W. Youngblood of the US Navy, stationed overseas. Lt Youngblood was one of the recipients of the many cards and letters collected and mailed in early February to US troops by the Woman’s Club and many other local organizations. “I would like to express my thanks to your club and the kind words in the cards that I received in the mail in February,” wrote Lt Youngblood. “You know over here we don’t get very many thanks from strangers, but it really was nice and gratifying knowing that somewhere out there are people who still care.” The soldier also expressed thanks to the Newtown Girl Scouts, the Brunos, Martha and Meg, and the students at St Rose for their messages of support and added, “I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I’ll just end with a thank you to each and everyone of you who support us, our country and the sacrifices that we all have to make.” It was a small effort on the parts of those who took the time to participate in the card collections, but evidently it made a big effort on the other side of the ocean. I think I’ll stock upon some cards for the next overseas mailing.

I was aroused from my midmorning nap on Monday by a loud bang. I rose to look around to see what happened, but then the lights went out. So I went back to sleep only to be disturbed again by all the whining around the office about blank computer screens. I learned later that the power in the center of town had gone out briefly after a circuit breaker popped atop a utility pole.

Hawley School fourth grade teacher Lea Attanasio has been selected as a Weller Foundation Award recipient for her unit on Birthday Celebrations Around the World. This unit incorporated reading, expository and narrative writing, geography, technology, research, and sociology by bringing together her fourth graders and senior citizens who shared memories of birthday celebrations in the countries of origin.

Fans of local writer David Shugart’s Secrets of the Widow’s Son, which delves into the mystery of The Da Vinci Code, might want to get their hands on a copy of the English version of Widow’s Son. An addendum to the book found only in England discusses some other secrets: those of Dan Brown, Da Vinci Code author. Mr Shugarts promises there are plenty of surprises therein.

Not to be outdone, I’m going to see that there are plenty of surprises herein next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.