Shel Horowitz's Monthly Frugal Fun Tip -- May, 2001, Vol. 5 No. 1

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By Shel Horowitz

An extra-big issue this month...because there's a lot to share with you.
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Thank You!
As I begin my fifth year of publishing these tipsheets every month, I am now reaching more than 5600 Frugal Fun Tips subscribers with every issue. Some of you have been reading this column every month for years. I just want to pause a moment to thank you for your loyalty, your constructive suggestions, your book and service orders, and your willingness to forward these newsletters.

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THIS MONTH'S TIP: Springtime Fun

Here in New England, spring has taken a loooong time to get here this year. I can still see the Connecticut River--normally blocked by now by the still-leafless trees--from my office window, and there are still a few patches of snow on the mountain behind our house.

Still, the maple sugar farmers have put away their sap buckets, the birds are back in multitudes, the crocuses are wilting and giving way to the daffodils. And I put my kids' winter coats on the back rod of our double-decker front closet.

It's so easy to miss this season, sitting in offices, factories, or classrooms! And it goes by so fast! So to make it last a bit longer, here are ten quick, easy FREE spring pleasures. Even if you can only steal five or ten minutes to be outside, these things can cheer up your day.

1. Take a pair of binoculars and see how many different kinds of birds you can spot
2. Go to a local pond and listen to the spring peepers
3. Smell a different flower every day for a week
4. Pick a tree to watch every day--notice the buds changing to blossoms changing to baby leaves, turning to grown ones--flowering trees like apples, cherries, magnolias are especially nice, but it's pretty spiffy to watch even an oak or maple go through this transformation
5. Ask a local farmer if you can observe the new lambs, calves, etc.
6. Lie on a sunny deck or balcony in the heat of the day
7. Float maple seed "helicopters" down a local stream
8. Play "pooh sticks": throw twigs off the upstream side of a bridge, cross over and watch them come out the downstream side
9. Go for a brisk walkSin the woods (tuck your pants into your socks! It's tick season!), through the fields, or even right through town
10. Plant something in your garden (if you're a city dweller, try growing dwarf tomatoes on a sunny windowsill)