By Bob Tagert

March came in like a lion and is going out like a lamb with above average temps and normal breezes. It looks like April will be our spring!

Let’s take a look at some of what we have inside this issue:

Join us on our Road Trip this month to the greening of the mountains, while Open Space Lori Welch Brown is confronted with April Showers and May Flowers. We celebrate Earth Day on the 22^nd. You can read about this year’s theme in this month’s special feature and To the Blue Ridge Julie Reardon tells you how to Stop and Smell the Roses.

Winemaker Doug Fabbioli takes a look at what locally grown wines might work for this spring in Exploring VA Wines and discover five new Virginia wineries with Matt Fitzsimmons in Grapevine. Keeping with the adult beverage category, Let’s Get Crafty Tim Long tells us his favorite place to take his growler.

In High Notes Ron Powers goes retro with “She Drives Me Crazy”! With all of the hullabaloo about library censorship, Sarah Becker celebrates National Library Week in A Bit of History. Last Word’s Miriam Kramer meets the author and the subject of the book she read on her way to Table Mountain, South Africa –Trevor Noah. Scott Dicken takes us truck overlanding in Africa in his Take Photos, Leave Footprints column.

It appears that spring is finally upon us. Outdoor dining in Old Town will get into full swing and the tourists will start pouring in. Hopefully folks driving through Old Town will slow down a bit and also quit drifting through stop signs and pedestrians need to look both ways when crossing a street and not at their cell phones. Let’s all be safe out there and remember to wear white or a light color at night.

The cherry blossoms will be on their way out early this month so if you haven’t taken a gander at them you still have some time. Be sure to take extra care of Mother Earth on the 22^nd and if you celebrate it, have a very Happy Easter!