Spring Is Sprung

            Spring is finally here. With temperatures soaring into the 80s, nature awakens with enthusiasm. Fruit trees and magnolias blossom all at once, birds reappear at their familiar feeders, and wildflowers line our highways with purple carpets. Hibernating humans are not far behind. Whirring lawnmowers echo from neighbors' yards, long pants give way to shorts, and ice cream lovers once again return to Woodard's for a nip and a lick of their favorite flavors.

            Spring is also a time for giving. Collection of items for the annual tag sale has begun; pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, and benefit golf tournaments appear on our calendars;  volunteers knock on our doors for donations to worthy causes; and friends and neighbors get together to paint fences and repair docks.
            Such is the spirit that infuses our corner of North Carolina. It is in sharp contrast to the profligacy and self-absorption that characterizes the Beltway. We read that Joe Biden, a millionaire who gives almost nothing to charity, spent a cool million of taxpayer money on hotel bills in Paris and London for himself and his entourage, not to mention $321,000 on limousine service.
            Not to be outdone, the president, after sending his wife on a ski vacation in Aspen while he golfed in Florida, sent his kids on a spring break to the Bahamas, all at a huge cost to the taxpayers. Then he celebrated the arrival of spring by throwing a lavish White House party that cost $1.2 million. He hit corporate donors for some of the bill, but stuck taxpayers with their share of $430,000. While he and MIchelle swayed to the music, I wonder if they thought about the kids who can no longer tour the White House because of the Sequester, which, in spite of his protests, was the president's idea in the first place. And now we hear that invitations are already going out for Michelle's 50th birthday bash next year, the costs of which are projected to be upwards of $3 million.
            The Obamas are raising imperial style to a new level. Roman emperors never had it so good.