Last week, school vacation week, was a weather gift. Like time lapse photography, the snow cover receded inches and feet, right before our eyes, leaving behind crocuses and the beginning of daffodils, and snow melt seas in low-lying fields. On one of these the dog and I espied a pair of ducks that Bob Colby thought might be Muscovy ducks.

The vanishing snow cover revealed roadsides littered with empty cans – a boon for the Little League collection campaign – and lawns rife with molehills. According to a feature in the Sun Journal last week, moles have too few predators out there this spring. Our lawn says it’s so.

Moles. I went to Google to learn more about them. The first link on the list posed the question: Is it time to see the dermatologist? But there were many other links offering information about our Eastern moles, Scalopus aquaticus, also known though not by me, as talpas. Amazing little mammals who daily consume their weight in spiders, worms, grubs and other dirt dwellers. In the course of its brief life – three years – the mole rarely sees daylight. It’s not sociable. A mole gets together with another mole just long enough to mate, then it’s back to shoving balls to open complex networks of tunnels.

Those molehills? They’re the talpas’ ventilating systems. Terry Flynn demonstrated his technique for shutting them down: With a sturdily booted foot, scuff the hill down, then rake it smooth.

True spring in the River Valley is always marked by the appearance in the Rumford Falls Times of photo spreads on the top 10 seniors about to be graduated from Dirigo and Mountain Valley high schools. Great-looking young people. But, shouldn’t our young men be better represented?

Another sign of true spring: the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition’s semiannual Community Forum. This year’s is Wednesday, April 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Mountain Valley Middle School. It’s about the future and our community’s health, all aspects of it: recreation, business, the environment,the arts, education, government, medical care – everything. Patty Duguay says supper will be provided to participants; you can bet it will be a healthy one. For more information or to register, call 364-7408.

The coalition is adept at partnering for the good of our health. Barbara MacGregor’s presentation to a women’s group recently was a reminder. Barbara is a registered nurse and the diabetes educator for Rumford Hospital. She shared some striking data about the increase in Type 2 diabetes: That its onset is among younger and younger people; that its most common causes are obesity and the couch potato lifestyle; above all, that it is preventable.

Among the take-away materials: Walking trail maps for area towns (a favorite: the Hanover Top Hat Loop) that was created by the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, available there and at Rumford Hospital, to be sure.

A deep subject: A hundred years ago, when I was in high school, there was this corny joke kid who regaled classmates with truly dumb jokes like: “Well water – that’s a deep subject! Get it?” Yuk, yuk. The joke came back to me one day last week when the submersed pump in our deep well quit. Fortunately, we thought, grasping for good news, it happened in true spring, after the four feet of snow covering the well head melted. All’s well that ends well. Get it?

Linda Farr Macgregor lives with her husband, Jim, in Rumford. She is a freelance writer. Contact her: [email protected]