You know that lion that March is supposed to come in like? Evidently he got bogged down out in the Northwest in the Washington Cascades because New England is positively crawling with the lambs that March is supposed to go out like.

All the great weather recently inspired large crowds to show up at the 23rd Annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford last weekend. Sydney Eddison, Newtown’s beloved author and expert gardener, was there. She was a featured speaker on Saturday at the show. While making their way through landscape exhibitions, gardening and floral displays, and hundreds of related vendors, dozens of showgoers took time out to visit the expo center’s meeting room to take in Sydney’s wonderful lecture.

So many people were interested in her program that by the time she started her talk at noon every seat was full and there were people standing two and three deep near the room’s back and sidewalls. The program was “A Perennial Border for All Season,” and Sydney accompanied her discussion with color slides of her own beautiful gardens taken during all four seasons.

I’ve got to say that from a cat’s point of view, the best part about her lecture was that not a single slide featured her dog, Chloe.

While walking at Fairfield Hills this week, I breathed in the sweet smells of spring, including the rich odor of topsoil, which workmen were raking over an area that had been excavated near Canaan House. The workers were laying down a thick coating of loam where grass will be planted to reestablish the lawn that was destroyed by that excavation. In early December, more than 4,500 gallons of heating fuel spilled onto the ground, making quite a mess. Now, the workers are putting things right following a lengthy cleanup project.

With nicer weather on the way, the rate of applications coming into the land use department has picked up markedly. What just a few months ago was a pretty slim list of applications has grown considerably. Those town land use officials, including Conservation Official Steve Driver, had better get out their magnifying glasses to check the fine print on those maps and applications.

Warmer weather also seems to bring out the racecar driver in all of us. The windows go down and the radio gets turned up and before you know it, you’re breaking the land speed record. It won’t be long before Sergeant Chris Vanghele dusts off the police department’s spiffy new speed trailer and gets it out there on the streets. In big bright numerals, it displays the posted speed limit in a given area. In flashing lights, it displays the speed of oncoming vehicles. The device is intended to deter speeding, so remember, it’s not a game. You’re not trying for a high score.

We know spring is on its way when the bald eagles begin nesting again. Watch the entire process as it unfolds from egg laying to incubation to hatching and, hopefully, fledging by logging onto the EagleCam at www.nu.com/eagles. The hidden eagle observation camera set up by Northeast Utilities on Barton Island, Mass., in the middle of the Connecticut River looks directly down at a nest that one pair of bald eagles has used for more than ten years. A continuous, live video stream shows the two adult eagles coming and going, bringing new sticks and fresh moss to the nest. The female may lay the first egg any day now. After two or three eggs have been laid, she’ll begin sitting on them full time. During this period, she’ll be fed by the male and won’t leave the nest even briefly unless he comes to take over. The eggs hatch within 35 days, and sometime in July or August, the young eaglets are ready to leave. Last year, one eaglet was successfully raised and fledged. Who knows what will happen this year, but you can log on anytime to find out.

Mike Snyder was the entertainment at Monday night’s meeting of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. Mike said he had spotted a bunch of unusual signs around town recently, such as the one at his optometrist’s office: “If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place,” and one on a plumber’s truck, “We repair what your husband fixed.”

Local organizers of the planned American Cancer Society Relay for Life invite everyone to attend the kickoff rally on Monday, March 8, at 6:30 pm, in the cafeteria of the middle school on Queen Street. Anyone who can’t attend but would like more information about how to help with the June 12 relay event should call Dawn Escoda at 270-7541 or Ivette Geric at 426-2589.

If you’re out and about and happen to stop by the Parks and Recreation Department at Town Hall South, pick up a Newtown Coloring Book for the kids. It’s small enough to keep in the glove compartment of your car along with a box of crayons. Just the thing for emergency entertainment when you get stuck in traffic trying to turn left at the flag pole off Church Hill Road. The free coloring book features scenes of Newtown drawn by Newtown High School art students, and was printed last year by the Newtown Chamber of Commerce. The drawings are mostly of familiar places like the gazebo at The Pleasance (complete with bride and groom), Edmond Town Hall, and the General Store. There’s a silly little rooster you have to find in every picture –– sort of like Where’s Waldo –– but I think they should have used a black cat instead. But then again, you always know when and where to find me — right here — so be sure to…

Read me again.