David Bouchier

This is the day when it becomes crystal clear that “Government by the people” actually means “Government paid for by the people.” On April 15 we are all required to make our involuntary contribution towards another year of Washington chaos, no matter what it costs, and of course we should feel wonderful about that.

Viruses are everywhere and not just the computer kind. Summer and winter we are surrounded by people coughing and sneezing, and we spend far too much time coughing and sneezing ourselves. If you live in the city, it's easy to see how these viruses get passed along, in crowded subways and elevators. But out here in the suburbs, where we have so much space and so little human contact, how on earth do the viruses get from one person to another? Do they develop legs like fleas, and jump?

April Fools’ Day comes around once a year, although sometimes it seems to come more often than that. Today, we are expected to play practical jokes, and to be the good-natured victims of jokes played by others.

The desire to make things clean and tidy in the springtime seems to be almost a biological urge, and like most biological urges, it should be resisted. Spring may be the season of renewal and new beginnings, but there’s no point in going crazy about it. The energy and optimism we feel at this time of year shouldn’t be wasted on cleaning.

While we were all busy being Irish yesterday I found time to reflect on the famous American Melting Pot, and how it seems to be melting. Soon after I first came to America, I was in Baltimore on Saint Patrick’s Day, and so I just had to see the parade. It was much like any other parade, until a marching band appeared in full Scottish highland dress, playing energetically on the bagpipes. Half of them were African Americans. The concept of an Irish African American Scottish bagpiper must be something unique to this nation, and was almost beyond the capacity of my alien brain to grasp.