There was an element of summer in the spring weather the early part of this week, and I couldn’t resist lounging in the sun for a few hours and watching the trees unfurl new leaves.

Someone else was appreciating our lovely Newtown spring, too. Ronnie Greenman stopped by The Bee to say hello. Ronnie grew up here and is now living in Tallahassee, Fla., where he raises dogs. Right now, he says, he has six black Russians and six Rottweilers. He also has two ponies that he got from the Beaumont Islands off of the Carolinas. People who have been in town for a while probably recall that Ronnie’s dad, Harry, ran Lovell’s Garage on Main Street for years.

I may appear to be sleeping peacefully — just a few bird feathers clinging to my lips — but I did flex my whiskers when I learned about an Earth Day cleanup on Great Quarter Road last Sunday.

After sipping coffee at the cul-de-sac at the end of Great Quarter Road leading into the Paugussett State Forest, the neighbors wound their way through roadside brush, entrances to hiking trails, along streams trickling into the woods, and in some cases scrambled down the banks to retrieve wrappers, plastic containers, paper cups, phone books, broken glass, and bottles. Under one pile of leaves was an omen: a rubber ball representing the earth. Holding the blue oceans and green continents in their hands, the neighbors kept clean their mile-long stretch of the globe. Then with trailers attached to their all-terrain vehicles, wheelbarrows and trash bags slowly filling, a handful of neighbors rustled up the roadside trash and packed it off to the transfer station. I purr thinking about the late spring sunshine glinting off water spilling over rocks on its way downstream to Lake Zoar, rather than sparkling against the broken beer bottles amid last fall’s leaves.

Also in the spirit of Earth Day was another cleanup in Newtown on April 25. Thirty-six neighbors on Kelly Court and High Rock Road set out to “Lose the Litter,” as promoted by the Newtown Lions Club. In less than three hours neighbors there collected more than 80 bags of garbage on a three-mile stretch of High Rock Road and New Lebbon Road. Many people were deep in the woods, sometimes in swampy terrain, to gather debris including a rolled up rug, car parts, bottles, cans, Styrofoam cups, cigarette boxes — and half the trash was recyclable products. Thanks go to Vincent and Karen Weis who picked up all the bags and hauled them away.

More neighbors want to help out next year, and others were thankful for the cleaner neighborhood. Maybe the High Rock Road crew will make this an annual event.

Ben Roberts, facilitator of the Monday night discussion salons at Mocha Coffee House tells me that things are going strong with the discussions. “We’ve typically had about 20 people each week, although last week it dropped to 15, which was still very good as far as I’m concerned,” says Ben. “People are really becoming fans, so there is a loyal core of 20 or so, about three-quarters of whom make it on a typical Monday, plus we get a steady influx of new people checking it out as well —usually friends of the regular ‘Salonistas’.” The discussion group tries to touch on a variety of timely subjects and is open to all. For weekly subject topics and more information, visit ConsciousFinancialDirections.com.

It looks like you can win your cake and eat it, too, once again. Andrea’s Pastry Shop has taken over as the provider of the free cake for the weekly Newtown Bee Birthday Cake Contest. Owner Tony Posca stirs up plenty of flavors to pick from, and cake decorator Katie Miranti will be adding her flair to the prize. I wish I was a preteen and could submit my photo and phone number to win a cake. I wonder if Tony would throw in a mouse for me?

Fancy tuxedoes, fancy dresses, fancy hair, and fancy nails will be the rage all around town Saturday afternoon when the NHS Class of 2009 gets ready to flaunt their finery at the annual Senior Prom. Don’t be surprised if you see a few fancy limos on the streets, too, as the promgoers head out in style. Have fun, seniors, but remember what my mother always told me: “Meow. Meow. And Meow.” (Be good. Be careful. And behave.)