by Cole Altom , Editor

I made a list about spring , which you ’ ll find I have mixed feelings about .

THE GOOD

• The desert . It ’ s green again . Or greenish . It ’ s a desert . But still .

• The days . They ’ re longer and warmer but bookended by the residual cool of winter .

• Patios . They ’ re back , baby !

• Easter Sunday . I ’ m not religious , but the food ’ s good .

• Sports . Basketball .

THE BAD

• Allergies . As if I liked breathing .

• Yard work . I run out of excuses .

• Sunburn . I ’ m a fair-skinned fella .

• Dark beers . Sadly , they must be retired , because drinking them in the heat of day is psychotic .

• Time change . Nonsense .

THE UGLY

• Spring Breakers . I know that to some degree our communities depend financially on the largesse of passersthrough , and I sympathize , but they ’ re in vacation mode , which I also find sympathetic , and obviously # notalltourists , some of them are wonderful , but all too often they rubberneck as they walk in the middle of the street , which is the one part of a street they shouldn ’ t walk , and hem and haw at the bar and the grocery store as if encountering both for the first time , and treat

Highway 90 as something to speed through or crawl on as the case may be , taking pictures inimical to the safety of others or themselves , passing where they shouldn ’ t in an RV that costs more than our houses , and the parks are all booked up by Very Serious Hikers , who you can tell because they dress like Very Serious Hikers when they aren ’ t cosplaying cowboy , and they talk to us who live here of the majesty of our surroundings because how would we know if not for them . Sorry , but this is our home . Meet us halfway .

With that out of the way , we have a lovely issue of Cenizo this April , a zesty mix of contributors new and familiar , with some experiments on content and formatting and a happy range of topics . I hope y ’ all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed slapping it together .