After the beautiful, sunny weather we enjoyed last weekend, we’ve all been out seeding the bare spots, planting perennials, hauling and spreading topsoil, and praying for rain. We’re not looking for the kind of torrential downpour we experienced two weekends ago. Just a nice, soft, all-day soaking that will nourish the roots, start the seeds, and get everything growing.

For some people, the grass just isn’t growing fast enough. Jim Crick, for instance, is so enamored of his riding lawn mower that he cut his lawn two times in three days last week.

If you’ve already started up the sprinkler, stop a moment and think about what’s coming out of the tap. “Clean water is a precious resource that needs protecting,” said James Belden, speaking on behalf of Newtown’s newest environmental watchdog organization called the Pootatuck Watershed Association (PWA). James and several other PWA board members hope you will stop by Edmond Town Hall on Tuesday, May 9, between 5 and 7 pm, to learn more about how you can help. The event will be held in the Alexandria Room (third floor) and is free and open to the public. “We’ll have refreshments, displays, and a map of the 26-mile Pootatuck watershed that supplies most of Newtown’s drinking water,” said James. He plans to speak about projects that are planned or currently underway, and First Selectman Herb Rosenthal will also say a few words. There will be visual displays concerning water quality and macro-invertebrate studies conducted by Newtown High School students, and outreach materials by United Water and Newtown’s Department of Health will be available.

Our dear friend Kaaren Valenta, who now resides in the sunshine state, let us know that she just returned from a ten-day trip to London. Kaaren explained, “It was ten great days, except for the beginning when we got stuck in Atlanta for 22 hours because they had a bomb scare that caused us to miss our connecting flight by ten minutes.” She added the only good thing was the airline put Kaaren and her husband, Jerry, up for the night at a hotel and they flew on to London first class all the way!

Rebecca (Switzer) Sniadecki of Sandy Hook stopped by The Bee to say how thrilled she was to see the photo in last week’s The Way We Were. Her great-grandfather was Dick Burr, one of the owners of the traveling meat wagon pictured. Rebecca recalled meeting her great-grandfather many times as a young child. “He walked with a cane carved like a colorful snake,” she said. Her great-grandfather died at the age of 99 in 1963 and Rebecca possesses the wedding band he had given his wife, Barbara. It’s always fun to hear about the local connections to history.

Silvermine Galleries in New Canaan has opened the largest exhibition it hosts annually, “Art of The Northeast,” and this year’s show includes work by two Newtown artists: Daniel Mark Duffy and James Travers. The show was juried by Ben Barzune, a senior associate from Knoedler Gallery in New York City, and includes more than 90 works (paintings, sculpture, video, and prints). An opening reception and awards reception will be held at the gallery on Friday, May 5, from 7 to 9 pm. If you can’t make that, there’s also a Gallery Walk & Talk scheduled for Sunday, May 7. At 1 pm, curator Denise Markonish will lead this walking tour of the exhibition.

My feline friend, Leonardo, thought he would show who was boss when he slipped into his owner’s bedroom just before she shut the door to keep him off of her bed. His plan backfired, though, when said owner did not return for nine days and the kitty sitter failed to miss him. A very hungry and thirsty kitty stalked out of the room when the family returned, proving at least, that cats really do have nine lives. Leo might have used up one of those.

Provided no one locks me in a bedroom, I will be back next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.