Just when spring is right around the corner... Even with a relatively mild winter thus far, delays, cancellations, and shoveling due to the Sunday-Monday snowstorm had many feeling kind of put out about winter. Here’s an upside to the foot of snow that fell — it may have been “poor man’s fertilizer.” Snow that falls in spring, or whenever the ground is not fully frozen, is a source of nitrogen captured midair as the moisture flies from cloud to earth. That nitrogen seeps slowly into the ground, is converted by microorganisms to nitrates, and is a boon to sleeping bulbs and other early sprouts. It doesn’t make the shoveling any easier, but it is a small comfort to think that something is benefitting from snow.

Thank you to Bill Neugebauer of New Jersey, who recently renewed his subscription to Bee Publication A&A. We truly appreciate the support of each and every subscriber — near and far!

I hear from Connecticut Audubon that “Thanks to close monitoring and stewardship by an Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds technician this past summer, Pink Flag 2E, [a bird known as a piping plover] was able to safely nest, forage for food, and raise its young on our shore — then migrate all the way to the Bahamas for the winter.” Pink Flag 2E also raised three chicks in Connecticut in 2017. She was spotted this month in the Bahamas, “Thanks to the pink identification band around its leg.” That’s quite a journey and success story for the little shore bird.

Trout Gaskins spotted a barred owl through a skylight in his Brushy Hill home on Monday morning. The owl appeared to have taken refuge from the Sunday night snowstorm in a maple tree in front of the house.

The Newtown Knights of Columbus have been serving the Newtown community since 1896. The local council has also been serving Lenten dinners since 2005, when the St Virgilius Council 185 introduced their Friday Knight Fish Fry events at St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. That popular event returns this weekend. All residents are invited to break bread together in the gathering hall of St Rose of Lima School, 46 Church Hill Road, between 5 and 8 pm, March 8. Drop in at your convenience or take advantage of speedy take-out service. Either way, you’ll be treated to an entree of fried or baked fish or fish tacos or macaroni and cheese, plus sides of French fries, coleslaw, clam chowder (an award-winning recipe, we’re told), a beverage, and dessert, all for $10 per adult or $6 per child. Dinners this Lenten season are also planned for Fridays, March 15, 22, and 29, and April 19. Personally, I can’t decide which fish entree I prefer. Drop any type of fish on the ground, and this cat will pounce!

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary is looking for a special volunteer — a Volunteer Coordinator. This position requires an “Organized, responsible, and friendly person to work with sanctuary volunteers,” according to information I’m given. “Approximately 2 hours a week (from home or from CVH Animal Sanctuary office) plus eight Sundays and one Saturday during the year.” If you are interested, e-mail volunteer@cvhfoundation.org for more information.

You can never start honing your writing skills too soon — after all, look where it’s gotten me. Students in grades 6-8 can learn from author/poet Aimee Pokwatka at C.H. Booth Library, five Thursday evenings, beginning on March 14. The Creative Writing class meets in the Antiques Room of the library from 6 to 8 pm each of the consecutive Thursdays. Learn from a professional and have fun. Registration is required. Visit chboothlibrary.org, and click on the calendar listing to register, or call 203-426-4533 for more information.

Lynn Remson, a member of The Newtown Bee’s Production Department, shared with us an interesting first of the month bit of folklore she learned from her brother-in-law. “He’s English,” she explained mid-morning, March 1, “and on the first of each month he’ll say ‘Pinch, punch, first of the month, rabbits rabbits rabbits!” It seems this tradition dates to old England, when people felt witches were a large part of the population. People reportedly thought salt would make a witch weak, so “pinch” was for a pinch of salt, and then the punch would banish the witch for a month. An online search then found that “‘Rabbit rabbit rabbit’ is a superstition found in Britain and North America, wherein a person says or repeats the words rabbit, rabbits and/or white rabbit(s) upon waking on the first day of a month, to ensure good luck for the rest of it.” If all it takes is a call out to bunnies once a month for good luck, count me in!

Young people looking to up their soccer skills might find this spring’s P&R offering of Futsal & Street Soccer to be just what they need. According to P&R info, it’s not a typical program. “A typical Futsal game allows the player to touch the ball up to 600 percent (and that’s not a typo!) more than traditional soccer...” The heavier, small Futsal ball “allows the player to easily command the ball.” Kids from 7 to 11 can sign up at newtown-ct.gov/parks-recreation/news/register-today. The program begins March 19 and runs through May 14, Tuesday evenings.

Save the date: Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company is going to introduce its newest fundraising event next month. The 2019 Sandy Hook Food Truck Frenzy will be presented at the fire company’s main station on Riverside Road on Saturday, April 13, 11 am until 5 pm. Admission is $2 person, and then attendees can purchase food and drinks from the truck(s) of their choice. Seating will be set up so that patrons will be protected from rain or sun, so weather should not be an issue. Rumor has it a beer garden will also be part of the mix. Proceeds will benefit Sandy Hook VFR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Also, food truck spaces are still available for those who want to participate. Visit sandyhookfire.com for full details.

In the category of Bad News-Good News, The Avielle Foundation needed to scramble last week when they learned that Dr Nadine Burke-Harris would need to postpone her May 16 appearance for that evening’s Brainstorm Experience. That was the bad news. The good news is, Dr Burke-Harris needed to do a date change because she had learned she was going to be the first California Surgeon General to implement a system of preventative care based on addressing adverse childhood experiences, and she needed to be in San Francisco to pick up an award the same night she was initially going to be in Newtown. The even better news? Dr Burke-Harris’s schedule was open the following week, so she is now planning to be at Edmond Town Hall for Thursday, May 23. Tickets for the original date will be honored; tickets for the new date, and additional information, are available through aviellefoundation.org.

A quick reminder; we return to Daylight Saving Time — the proper spelling, but more commonly called Daylight Savings Time — on Saturday night (or technically, super early on Sunday morning). Be sure to spring your clocks forward one hour before hitting the sack on Saturday night.

I’ll keep on springing forward with tidbits of news next week. I hope you will... Read me again.