From Frost to Fabulous

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: April 2025

Hello, and Welcome to April on the Plateau!

Let me apologize to those of you who’ve turned to this page expecting the exuberance and the wisdom of William McReynolds. William’s still around and he’s in this issue with his wise Audubon column.

At the same time, he’s taken on the challenge of writing a book about Nietzsche which, as you’d guess, is going to be taking up lots and lots of neurons in his effervescent brain.

We’ll keep you posted on his progress and let you know when the manuscript is finally sent to his publisher. (I’m guessing that, for marketing reasons, they’ll name it “Fritz! The Wit and Wisdom of Friedrich Nietzsche.” I could be wrong, though.)

Anyway, let me preview this issue and this month in Cashiers and Highlands and the little communities scattered across the Plateau.

If you’re like me, the warmth and sunshine of this month has put wings on my feet and I’m raring to get back into the green spaces that limn this patch of Paradise.

And, of course, check Debbie Hall’s Gardening article to get ready for planting. Prepare your soil, but don’t forget that a couple of frosty days can devastate your too-early efforts.

We’re spotlighting Easter events and an entire month of Earth Day celebrations. Both traditions are built upon a reverence for rebirth and renewal, built into our lives here on the Plateau and carried out into the greater world.

Now this is the part of these essays where William would list all of the remarkable global celebrations that decorate the month’s calendars.

I’d like to spotlight two august dates in April:

April 7, International Beaver Day! Hooray for these inventive, relentlessly busy rodents – at the very moment you’re reading this magazine, they’re hard at work at Lindenwood Lake at Highlands Nature Center and, according to recent sightings, the wetlands at The Village Green. (If you happen to sight them at The Village Green, please report this to Shelby Ward at shelby@cashiersgreen.com; Highlands Biological Foundation’s Marissa Nieddu at marissa@highlandsbiological.org; or me at luke@thelaurelmagazine.com.

April 28, Global Pay It Forward Day. The generosity of spirit at the heart of this day has animated this Plateau since the days of the Cherokee. Every individual highlighted in this magazine, every civic organization involved in our lives, every work of art created here, has benefited from this impulse. Pass it on!