April ahead of us together with big climatic changes. Days are becoming longer, after several months the nature has revived, trees are turning green, sun rays are becoming increasingly stronger. After months spent at home without solar exposure, our organism has to cope with different natural conditions. It is worth to remember to listen to our biological clock.
April is the fourth month of the year. It has thirty days. It is the spring month in the northern hemisphere and the autumnal one in the southern hemisphere, where it relates to October in the southern hemisphere and the other way round. April always begins the same day of the week as July and as January in leap years. Its name in Polish comes from the verb to “blossom” meaning flowers blossoming in that month. The name of this month in many European languages derives from the Latin name aprilis. It originates in the verb aperire which means to open, which reflects the opening of vegetation through blossoming and budding. After first flowers, gradually other species blossom and first leaves start to appear on trees. It is an uneasy time for allergy-prone persons, who are exposed to significant influence of pollens, especially in April, May and June. In April we start to notice first flies and butterflies, frogs begin to mate. April is the month when most of birds come back to Poland from the warm South. Most of trees cover with leaves. The lowest undergrowth of the trees has a chance to develop until the middle of April, when the crowns of the trees start to limit the access of sunshine to the lower parts of the forestal vegetation. At the end of April canola blossoms magnificently in the fields. These vivid changes are well described in traditional Polish sayings, especially the volatility of the weather in April.
April begins with a day of fun and jokes – April Fool’s Day. No one really knows when this custom began, but it has been kept for hundreds of years. This day people compete at trying to convince each other with the more improbable stories the better. That day unbelievable news may appear in mass media to make fun.
The 1st Sunday in April is called the Daffodil Sunday. In the nineteenth century families picked daffodils from their gardens and took them to local hospitals to give to the sick.
The 14th April is celebrated in Poland as the Homelessness Day initiated in Poland by Marek Kotański, a creator of the Movement Out of Homelessness. It is aimed at raising awareness of the problems of homeless people and organizing fundraises to help them.
The 22nd April millions of people across the globe will celebrate the International Day of Earth. It is the biggest ecological holiday organised since 1970. The idea of it is to promote the awareness of the need to protect nature, to use natural resources in a sustained way and to build common responsibility for the Earth. The organisers of that event aim at making politicians and the entire society realise the fragility of the ecosystem we live in. That day in Poland actions are organised to concentrate mainly on the problem of throwing litter, segregation of garbage, recycling and keeping the public area clean and without garbage. Workshops on ecological issues are held.
The beginning of the new season is generally a good time to pay attention to the needs of a proper organism given new climatic conditions, an increasingly higher temperature and a stronger sun. The biological clock requires us to take rest and to slow down. It is advised to eat seasonal fruits and vegetables, to drink lots of fruit juice and to eat light – calorie food. Going for a walk is recommended as well as other forms of sport. One should keep in mind sleeping at least eight hours per day, which enables us to adjust better to the new season.
Grzegorz Gruener
