The temperatures have warmed, the flowers are blooming, the pollen is beginning to settle thickly on every surface in sight, and that can mean only one thing.

Well actually, I suppose it could be a lot of things, but I have a particular topic in mind: spring cleaning. Am I the only one whose shoulders drooped a little just thinking about it?

Like many of you, I’ve been trying plan some time to buckle down to a little spring cleaning around my home, scrubbing appliances, vacuuming up cobwebs, bringing a breath of fresh air to my home life.

It’s certainly needed, and yet it’s easy to put off. Still, I know everything will feel fresher, brighter and cleaner when I make it happen – I just need to get “a round tuit,” as the joke goes. I hope supply chain issues haven’t affected their availability, though I’m sure inflation has caused their price to soar.

If I ever get around to it for the inside of my home, I hope I can also make a plan for the outside. As the earth turns green, with trees budding and weeds flourishing throughout our landscaping – or is that just at my house? – we need to remember the importance of a little TLC for our outdoor surroundings.

Did you know April is Keep America Beautiful month?

First established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful “inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment,” according to the KAB website. “We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live.”

Of course, we can’t change the whole country, but we can change our little corner of it, can’t we? We can encourage and embrace our personal responsibility to improve and beautify Franklin County, making sure it is a clean, green and beautiful place to live.

It takes each one of us doing our part to reduce waste, prevent litter and make better choices to keep our planet – or at least our portion of the planet – healthy.

The fact is, we all know of a spot that needs a little extra attention, whether it’s our own front yards, a roadside ditch that is crippled by litter or a neighborhood area that is overgrown and under-loved.

Our homes need our attention to be clean and welcoming, and our outdoor environment needs the same thing.

So although I admit I’m groaning about it inside, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and get after it.

Anyone have a round tuit I could borrow?