April is a month that opens the door to the carefree days of being outdoors.

During this month, youngsters begin to get true spring fever and want to be out of the house at every opportunity.

Playing begins in earnest, and the bikes, bats and balls, playgrounds and fishing equipment finally are in full use.

April always meant one thing to me and my pals as we were growing up: fishing season!

The first day of trout season was like no other opening day. You didn't have to catch a lot of trout, but you had to be a player in this annual event.

Unfortunately, after the snow melts, the ugly reminders of thoughtless people emerge as well in the form of litter strewn along our travel routes.

I can bemoan the fact that some people are slobs and indifferent to our green spaces, but I'm realistic and choose to be a friend to the environment by helping it out.

My pal Beaver Boy once said something that I have always thought was quotable in its meaning and simplicity.

After we picked up bags of trash and planted some tree seedlings, he said, "I can feel the earth thanking us and knowing that she feels much better after our attention."

That comment has been with me since that day, and I always will make the effort to help the earth feel a little better each day.

This month is the month of Earth Day, National Wildlife Week and the Pennsylvania trout season opener. What more reason do we need to be outdoors and doing something healthy and positive for the environment?

This weekend, our sportsmen's club will work on the Adopt-A-Highway campaign with litter pick up. No, I didn't toss a can out of my car and, yes, I'm not thrilled about picking up trash, but I do have pride in my community.

I always think about the impression I'd want a special visitor to take away from my home area.

Would I want to take them to a special fishing or picnic spot only to find it spoiled by litterbugs and refuse? Let's be proactive and take our kids to a stream or natural area. or get involved with a group effort in cleaning up litter to make it a better place for all of us.

One way to get young people involved in the campaign to have a clean environment is to participate with them and have them go at an early age with adults.

Kids pick up every attitude we put out in their early impressionable years. My mother used to say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. As I got older, that expression became very clear to me: kids will learn from their parents' examples.

This month is a good time to start yourself, your friends and your family on the path of thinking about the environment.

Most adults have childhood memories of carefree days spent playing outdoors, exploring the natural world around them. However, today's youth increasingly are "plugged in" to electronic devices and media, and unplugged from the fundamental and formative experience of nature.

The National Wildlife Foundation recommends that parents give their kids a "Green Hour" every day — a time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world.

That sounds like a winner to me. If you involve youngsters in a healthy activity, you won't have to worry about who's teaching them something unhealthy.

See you on the streams and may you have a strong knot, a sharp hook and a wet net until we meet again!