By Sherry Danekas

Adversity has the effect
of eliciting talents which, in
prosperous circumstances
would have lain dormant.
~Horace~
 

Sure would like to report that spring has appeared, but in our neck of the woods, that wouldn’t be all that accurate. What a rain year - we’ve had so much rain, that at this moment, the green grass is starting to turn a faded yellow color. What we need are some long days of sunshine and warmth to get things back to growing. I promised myself that I would refrain from making this editorial my complaint forum this month, so I had best get off the weather report and move on to issues of greater consequence.

I always thought that the older I got, that somewhere along the line nothing would surprise me: not events, people or the actions of folks. It seems like I have a long way to go before I reach that plateau. People keep surprising me, and not in a good way. The events that have rocked the world this past month are nothing short of terrifying. An earthquake registering a 9 on the Richter Scale seemed unimaginable, and then the tsunami that followed on its heels leaving so much devastation in its path…it seemed like something only Hollywood could produce. Watching the news accounts of the devastation and loss of lives, not to mention so many still missing, made me re-evaluate just how fortunate my life is.

I was particularly impressed at how the Japanese people have handled themselves. No one was complaining about standing in long lines for hours. There was no looting of businesses. Their incredible conduct in the wake of this tragedy is seen everywhere, in the shelters, on the streets, and it really left an impression on me. Just when I thought nothing could rid us of Charlie Sheen, the world exploded, and not just with the Japan catastrophe. It seems that people all over the globe have taken up arms to right their countries and eradicate the evil of their leaders and the governments currently in place.

There is a lot happening in the world today, and while we may not be in the heat of it all, it is affecting everything around us. Our economy suffers the effects that the world’s international financial systems are feeling. Our fuel and food prices continue to escalate and we can only imagine what diesel might cost by the end of the month. But, with everything swirling around us, we still managed to get this April issue off the presses and into your hands. This month we swing by a very successful Charolais ranch that is doing things right, and I think you’ll be impressed. Also, for those of you that are still having problems with those darn indexes, we do our best to explain them. This issue really contains a lot of information.

Watching the world with all these events taking place serves to make me so thankful that I do live in America, and for our governments as well - imperfect as they might be. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Japanese people and to all those fighting around the globe for their personal freedoms. The trail is pretty soggy, if not just fully flooded, so I’m going to tread carefully into May and hopefully that abundance of wild flowers these storms should provide will be appearing soon. I hope your trails are filled with hidden Easter eggs and chocolate bunny ears….Happy Easter and Trails.