This is no joke

Happy Fool's Day!!

As a brief explanatation of this day's origin for all y'all info-hungry out there, there's omethingsomething about Gregorian calendars, blah blah blah, people not switching and being made fun of, teehee's all around, those crazy April fools who still celebrate the new year on or about March 25th.

HOWEVER, many different cultures have had days of foolishness around the start of April, give or take a couple of weeks. The Romans had a festival named Hilaria (now THAT I can get into!) on March 25, rejoicing in the resurrection of Attis. The Hindu calendar has Holi, and the Jewish calendar has Purim. Perhaps there's something about the time of year, with its turn from winter to spring, that lends itself to lighthearted celebrations.

April Fools' Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a "fool's errand," looking for things that don't exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things.

The French call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.

(Taken from www.Infoplease.com)

Oh, those crazy Gregorians, with their chants and their calendars; or those nutty Romans, with their hilarity, or those French, with the steenky feeshes of mirth.

Wahoo! Fun!

But, dear readers, wait.

Wait just a second, for I have yet another explanation for all the hilarity and gregorianing and ichthyologistic funs - - I do believe that April Fool's day was invented by trees. You heard me. TREES.

And this is why: as I was going on my regularly scheduled coffee run this morning (nope, haven't bought a coffeemaker yet), I noticed that in this part of NC there was a certain haze in the air. I looked for Sunday-morning construction, but didn't see any. I looked for a leaf burn of fantastic proportion, but I didn't see any.

Then, it occured to me. It was pollen. I sheep you not, y'all, it was POLLEN. The time of chartreuse car blankets has arrived. The time of shifting waves of scattered tree sex is once again here. The time of arboreal giddiness is upon us, and the trees are celebrating in a major way. Celebrating hard and furiously enough to cloud the air with their lust for life.

(Cough. Wheeze. Drip.)

So, in light of this stunning revelation of the nature of nature in the initiation of a day of luxuriant merry-making - Happy Spring! Get it ON, you lusty pines! It's April's Fool's day, and y'all are fools for the reproduction, apparently. The rest of us will shut our doors and windows, go wash our cars, again, and wait it out in air-conditioned comfort until you get done getting your schwerve on.

And NOW, you know.