“A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast . . . " - Ernest Lawrence Thayer, "Casey at the Bat"

Springtime is a time of hope. All baseball teams start out in first place, before wins and losses begin separating the pack. There is still a chance of success.

For students and teachers, the long-awaited spring break has arrived. But most of all there is the changing weather. Flowers and blos­soms and the singing of birds that have been quiet for far too long - they all signal this time of renewal.

For the hundreds of millions of Christians in this nation, the many church bells that will be ringing this Sunday morning - Easter morning - signal the triumph of life over death and the forgiveness of sins by a merciful and loving God. For Jews, the season celebrates an escape from slavery. For the pagans, Easter Sunday, despite its moving relationship with full moons and the vernal equinox, reinforces the arrival of days filled with more light than darkness.

That astronomical certainty for Earth­dwellers has been filling people with opti­mism for thousands of years. Is it any wonder that we are a generally optimistic nation?

Our young people have been hard at it for many months now, despite the unscheduled and disruptive holidays brought by winter weather. We all want them to learn well. Here in the Cape Region, a majority of us expressed our faith in the importance of and need for adequate school facilities by approving the recent referendum to provide financing for a new elementary school.

We believe the students and teachers have worked hard and deserve their spring break.

They are the problem solvers of the future, the ones who will be using their brains and technology to make our world a better place.

There will be no lack of problems to tackle.

For now, though, let’s enjoy the promise of spring and the renewing sense of Easter, and celebrate having survived a long winter.