It's spring and ...

The light snow we had Sunday evening is gone, my winter coats are back from the dry cleaner's, and

• Finally daffodils popped up on the Ashland campus today. I was reminded of Wordsworth's poem, which was forever ruined for me when Mrs. Poole made us memorize it in the fourth grade. I like the Mad Magazine version better now: "I wandered lonely as a clod / Just picking up old rags and bottles / When all at once I saw a crowd / A host of golden axolotls."
• Another sign of spring: the latest Crate & Barrel catalog, in all the greens and oranges. I'm severely tempted, though I'd have to smash some dishes to make room for new ones, and I'm about as likely to give a garden party as I am to sprout wings.
• In obedience to today's forecast of rain, I wore my waterproof high-top boots, so the sky was totally clear all day

I'm finally going to give up on the dream of sitting in my Ashland office and cranking out piles of graded papers. It's tiny, windowless, and depressing. I can do about four there before I crack up. So today I messed about a lot, graded my four papers, then came home and forgave myself. Now I'll put on some music and grade four more.

But spring reminds me of ...

This classic British news clip about the harvesting of the Swiss spaghetti crop.