"April is the hardest month."

Last Sunday I met a friend for breakfast. We live just blocks away but had not seen each other in months. "April is the hardest month," she said. Indeed. DYK that the suicide rate increases in April? Why? It's Spring! New season, new life, new growth! In many places Spring in the form of visible new life comes later, but in April because it's Spring, people gain energy, physical energy, they did not have during the languid Winter months. So now they can act on that depression that stole over them however long ago. Fact.

April is a tough one. As a kid I remember getting chilled while using the hoe Dad handed me to help dig little canals for the melting snow to run through so they wouldn't erode the driveway. As a kid, it didn't seem so bad- an adventure! And little blades of green grass and tiny flowers sprang up to promise it really was Spring.

As an aging adult I long not for those days and abilities, but for warmth of sun, no stiff breeze (70 mph gusts in SE WY), just a gentle kiss of warm quiet glowing sunshine. Not the hard glare that pounds down from not too far overhead this time of year in the Mountain West. But a soft sun. Where was I? Here. Right here. A small stretch of grass at the entrance to the little industrial park where the bakery sits. Morning. Chilly with a glaring sun in an ice blue sky. But pin cherry blossoms promise it is Spring. Hang around for it. Flower power. #flowersforpeace

Photo taken today in West Valley City, UT