ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604150026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
* WE HESITATE to exult too fully in the coming of spring. It has arrived this year, what? Three times? Maybe four? With each break in a horrendous winter, days of mild temperatures and sunshine coaxed trees to bud and bulbs to poke flowers from the earth, only to have balmy breezes swept away by yet another capricious blast of Arctic air. After the string of blizzards or near-blizzards or heavy snows - whatever this winter's storms should be called - warnings of snow in April were almost too much to bear.
But then, magic. The temperatures warmed again. And while each puff of lingering wintry weather has been coldly received, each has provided, by its quick exit, an opportunity to revel again in that rush of another first day of spring. Wonderful.
But enough of the firsts. It's time the new season settled in.
* WE SAW in the paper where the creator of "The Hokey Pokey" died. Who can hear the title of that song, first recorded in 1949, without mentally singing: "You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out ... "? It became so prevalent at social gatherings that folks were shocked to hear Larry LaPrise, its writer, had died - because they didn't know the tune had a writer. As one woman said, "I just assumed it had been around forever." In the past, no; but it probably will be in the future, as long as there are children and others eager to shake themselves about.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB