Rusty Saber: Spring easily outperforms France, U.N. as refreshing topic

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

It isn't easy being Rusty. Deadlines wait for no writer. My deadline is at hand, and no topic jumps out at me.

As the selection process borders on panic, the nation is at war with Iraq; anything said here would be totally out of date by the time it appears. Besides, every pundit with access to a microphone, TV camera or printer's ink will have droned on about the war in minute detail, reaching beyond the level of endurance for most of us. I guess war as a topic is kaput.

Praising or bashing France is currently in vogue. The drawback is that whether Rusty praises or bashes France, some readers will yell, "Right on," others will say, "Boo, hiss."

For instance, if this column contends that Americans shouldn't denigrate France because of its actions against America in the United Nations because France has always been our good friend, readers will be either livid or ecstatic. On the other hand, Rusty says that if France is our friend, our enemies must really be worthless, and the livid and ecstatic folks will trade reactions. Since I strive to have everyone agree with me (I can't believe I said that), France is out as a topic.

The reactions would be similar should I choose another hot topic, the United Nations. The France praisers would rejoice if Rusty were to say that the U.N. is the force holding the world together; therefore, we must abide by its actions or inactions. Ditto for the France bashers should this column contend that the U.N. is to world peace what the buggy whip is to world travel.

Not wanting to provoke readers, I need a topic everyone can feel good about. Professor Feel Good, that's me.

Wait, I have it! Spring is here. Surely, no one can complain about spring as a column topic.

The long and disagreeable winter, with its bitter cold, ice and snow, appears to be over.

Although I was on Maui enduring temperatures in the 70s and 80s for nearly five weeks during some of winter's worst excesses, for you who were here, I can feel your pain. (I may have just aggravated more readers than had I written about France and the U.N.).

There is a certain feel in the air when winter has been swept aside and spring takes center stage. Not being a meteorologist, I don't know the name for the feel of freshness in the air that heralds the coming of spring.

It isn't simply an absence of cold temperatures, because warm days that may occasionally occur in the midst of winter have a different feel than an early spring day. I can't define a spring day, but I know one when I see it.

Beyond mild temperatures, how can you tell when spring has finally arrived?

You know it's spring when you leave your jacket in a restaurant and don't notice you aren't wearing it when you get outside.

You know it's spring when you begin to talk about the weather with a lilt in your voice, rather than clenching your teeth as you discuss such unsavory forecasts as below-zero temperatures, an ice storm or a foot of snow.

Spring is near when you begin to think about the work needing to be done in your yard. In fact, you may note that one of the few, and I do mean few, favorable aspects of winter is the lack of yard work, beyond shoveling snow.

A sure sign of spring's arrival is that the days begin to get significantly longer. In truth, lengthening days give you a lot more time to work on the yard, getting the lawn ready to be tended regularly through September.

Luckily, after Daylight Savings Time arrives, you can work outside until 9 pm. Some think that's a good thing; some don't.

The great thing about spring is that it is spring and not winter.

Ice is no longer frozen stuff to slip and slide on, but it cools your lemonade. Snow isn't something to be shoveled, but to be used when trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes.

I don't know about you, but given the choice between France, the U.N. or spring, I'll take spring every time.