It's springtime in Parker and the projects have begun. Somewhere deep inside town hall there must be a refrigerator with an extra large To-Do pad magnetized to the front. The winter has been spent filling it with bullet-pointed items to be addressed, much like a gardener, planning for the spring thaw.

Speaking of gardening, there is a lot of ground being churned up outside of the town hall. I idly commented to my husband that maybe they are going to plant grasses, like they have in front of the Wildlife Experience. Wouldn't that be nice? And since it would be xeriscaping, it would be politically correct, too. He agreed, but added it was much more likely they were laying down more cement. Granted, red, "brick" imprinted cement, nothing but the best, after all.

Didn't they already do that once, then tear it up and replace it with grasses? It's always possible. I sometimes think that Parker's motto ought to be, "Second time's a charm!" They do love to build it, tear it up, and rebuild it, don't they? I don't know about you, but I have this nervous anticipation regarding the upcoming Main Street improvements. As far as I know, they aren't planning on tearing up the round-about and redoing it...again.

I do have to admit that many of the improvements in the last few years have been very well done. Several medians around town have been tastefully planted with grasses and rock, and the growing number of "Parker" streetlights just add to the charm of our not-so-little-anymore burg. (Guess there's no redoing the town's logo now!) No one can argue that the O'Brian park makeover is a huge success.

We've got charm in spades now, so clearly I don't need to worry....do I? One cloudy day a couple weeks ago, when all the landscape was either graying snow, or winter brown grass, I was heading for the post office when I drove down Long's Way toward the intersection with Dransfeldt and something-very GREEN-assaulted my eyes. I did a triple take, and then I smiled. I knew they wouldn't let me down.Only Parker would put astro-turf in a median. I suppose it is near the new field house, after all. This should be a very entertaining spring!