Outdoors

Nature Notes If you've been following the news in the dailies and newscasts you no doubt have been hearing a lot about growth and decay in the suburbs. For the moment, urban problems have been set aside and the focus has been shifted to the populous spaces between city and country and what to do about them. The Sweet Smell of Fluke It's not clear if fishermen can actually smell the fish arrive, although there are days in downtown Montauk when the draggers are hauling back and the sweet smell of fluke is on the warm southwest wind. Notes From Madoo: Janus Month April is a toss, lauded by one for its sweet showers, castigated by another as being cruel, clearly a mischievous month with a foot still in early March and an arm temptingly stretched almost as far as June. If both draw back and reposition themselves properly, one is left with a capricious, bronchial, impossibly awry time gardeners are leery of.