It’s opening week, so to speak — that very special time when spring finally feels fully engaged and the itch overwhelms to get things done.

Between the raindrops that are not expected to produce a washout, the windows will be cleaned, waiting for the just-scrubbed screens to be reinstalled. Spring breezes certainly will freshen this old house. And they’ll help to expose those now-fluttering corner cobwebs that somehow escaped winter detection.

Some things will have to wait, however. Rain and front-porch painting don’t go together very well. The glider that ached to stay for as late as possible into the fall has been, under its tarp beneath the back deck, whistling that it’s ready to resume its lazing duties. Another week or two, dear friend.

The back deck also is in need of a good cleaning and restaining. A zeal to enjoy new deck furniture last year put that on the backburner.  It’s not a very enjoyable task but it’s not an option this year. The rain will delay that drudgery, albeit temporarily.

But the “Pssssssst!”-ing of the deck’s canvas awning to have its winter cover removed no longer can be ignored. It will let out an audible sigh as it is unfurled, taking in the fresh air and sunshine, ready to shade anew and, with light rain, provide a soothing backdrop to the day.

There’s also grass to be mowed, weeds to be pulled, mulch to be spread, gardens to be tended, a garage to be redd up and lots and lots (and lots) of sweeping.

Whew! Perhaps that’s why 18th-century German Romantic Jean Paul Richter wrote that “Spring makes everything young again — save man.”