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Show Despite recent snowfall, signs of spring are in air By CLAUDIA RAYL When spring begins to arrive each year we can chart her progress by sight, feel and smell. As we venture outside we being to notice that the breezes are a little gentler, the air a little warmer and fresher smelling. Next we may notice that the world is becoming a little greener as the grass begins to grow, the buds on trees start to swell and the flowers are poking their first shoots through the soil. In a few weeks we find that after a slow timid start spring has become stronger and bolder. The fresh green canvas that arrived ar-rived earlier is beginning to have bright splashes of color as the early spring flowers and trees start to bloom. Many enchanting fragrances are carried by the breeze lilacs, violets, apple blossoms blos-soms and many others. Spring is the time of new beginnings and the beginning of new life. There have been some new signs of spring the last few years, signs that are not as pleasant as those above. Signs that can bring death and illness. At first we hear a motor running, then if we are downwind we smell a strong unpleasant odor and if we are close enough our eyes might begin to water and burn. Later we might have other feelings of illness. If we looked we would see that someone in the neighborhood was having their yard sprayed with chemicals, chemic-als, chemicals that would guarantee a velvety smooth green lawn without weeds or pests. A few days after the spraying was done we might notice other signs of the spraying. Some pets may have become sick or died, a dead bird or two might be found and if you were down wind some' of your plants may be looking ill or dying. Some people have objected to sick or dead pets, sick or dead plants and the reactions they have to the sprayed chemicals. Because of this we have another sign of spring, a little sign on a stick stuck into lawns just before they are sprayed. This is an improvement. It gives you a chance to avoid the sprayed areas and to keep your pets in. If you were not home when the spraying was done it warns you that you should wash your plantings with water to protect them. There should be another sign on lawns to be sprayed, a larger sign put up a few days before the spraying is to be done. This warning would allow pregnant women, small children, and people who have reactions to pesticides and herbicides to leave the neighborhood before the spraying occurs. If we feel we must have our yards sprayed, we should give careful thought and consideration to the formula that we have sprayed on our yards. There are several combinations available fertilizer, fertilizer with herbicides, or a fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide combination. combina-tion. Using only what we need would reduce the contamination from the others. Most important though as intelligent, caring people, we should decide if a smooth green lawn, free of weeds and pests, is worth the contamination of our air, soil and water. We should look farther than the smooth green of our lawns and see what the accumulation of these elements is doing to the world we live in. |