It’s April, which means if you’re reading this at eight o’clock at night, you are still seeing shimmers of daylight in the sky. The sky will look about the same as it did in mid-December at five in the afternoon – isn’t that crazy?!
Every time the clocks change, I’m amazed at what a difference it makes in so many aspects of daily life. What is a bustling community at seven o’clock in one season is a ghost town in another. Neighbors go from hibernating inside their homes, shades drawn, to biking, gardening, and grilling on their patios deep into the evening hours. New Year’s resolutions do nothing for me, but give me more daylight in the evenings, and I spring into action, jumpstarting my exercise routine and ready to shed the winter pounds with a good walk, bike ride, or game of hoops in the driveway with the kids after work.
We asked our Facebook followers how the time change affected their families, and the responses were mixed – and comical! There was the meme of the dog falling over asleep, an old-timey video of a mom rocking her cradle incessantly, and the cutest picture of a little guy asleep in his high chair. We loved seeing the picture of the family out on Brown’s Island at 6:30 p.m., and we commiserated with Holly M., who was wide awake at 3:30 a.m. By and large, most folks are in favor of ditching all of these clock-changing shenanigans, and as I’ve said before, I think any political candidate who ran on a platform of permanent daylight-saving (yep, it’s saving, not savings!) time (and the end of robocalls!) would be a shoo-in for any election.
We’ve been doing lots of spring cleaning in our household, making some cash by selling our gently used kids’ clothes and toys at the Busy Bees Kidsignment Sale last month, and donating lots of stuff to our new client (yay!), Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia. In this issue, we have some great tips for spring cleaning in two of our departments where you might not expect to see them: Check out Legal Ease on page 38 for some advice on cleaning up those dreaded paper piles, and then flip over to Tech Talk on page 40 to learn how to clean up your devices to free up more storage space. I love the sage advice and variety of content we get from our guest authors in each issue, and I always learn new things to make life easier, so a big thanks to these local experts.
Spring also means it’s time for our Ninth Annual RFM Summer Adventure Expo, so make plans to join us on Sunday, April 14, from one to four, on the big, covered field at Sports Center of Richmond (SCOR) and inside at Peak Experiences. Summer camps from across the region will be on-hand to help you plan the best summer ever for your kids. There will be day camps, overnight camps, cooking camps, martial arts camps, dance camps, theatre camps, you name it. And kids ages five to sixteen get a free climb on the rock walls at Peak Experiences while you’re there, so bring lots of energy, kids! Mark yourself as “Going” on our Facebook event page, and tell your friends to meet you there at the Gelati Celesti Ice Cream truck for a fun (and delicious) afternoon of summer planning.
As you’re savoring the extra daylight and getting ready for summer, enjoy this issue of RFM!
