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GREENSBORO — You know the winter ailment called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD? The one that makes you mopey, sleepy and Oreo-centric?

Here comes the opposite: HAPPY.

Hurray! Azaleas. Potted Plants. Yes.

Today will be the warmest, most beautiful day so far this year, with a clear sky and a high of 84.

Do not squander it playing video games. Or watching Oprah. Or — we tread lightly here — sitting behind a desk. 

Here are 10 ways to deal with HAPPY. You don’t have to do everything on the list. But you must do one.

1. Clear yard debris from azaleas. Nothing says spring like Delaware Valley Whites. Please don’t leave ’em covered with leaves and sticks.

Some varieties are getting ready to bloom, if they haven’t started already, says Jesse Aiken  at Sedgefield Lawn and Garden Center. Others will open shortly, he says, depending on the variety.

Oh, it’s a good time to plant azaleas and other flowering shrubs, too, Aiken says.

2. Go to the zoo. Humans aren’t alone in our need to unleash the pent-up desire to frolic. Something delightful is bound to happen there today.

The N.C. Zoo in Asheboro is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. Cost is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors; $6 for kids 2 to 12; and free for the little tykes. Information: www.nczoo.org 

3. Hike a watershed trail. Fifteen peaceful, tree-lined paths border Greensboro’s lakes. The trails are still a tad muddy from recent rains. Embrace the dirt.

Information: www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Parks/Facilities/trails/watershed 

4. Open your windows. Sayonara, stuffy air. You can worry about cleaning the cobwebs another day. On this day, just breathe.

5. Commune with nature at the Bog Garden. Rick Bolling, a curator of the zoo at Greensboro’s Natural Science Center, says plant life there is just waking up for spring. As are we.

If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a snapping turtle, a box turtle or a Northern water snake — nonvenomous, Bolling says. Be on the lookout for dragonflies as well, he says.

Information: http://greensborobeautiful.org/TheBog.htm

(The Natural Science Center is open today, too. Information: www.natsci.org)

6. Go on a picnic. Enjoy all the romance of a Canterbury English-style picnic basket for two without spending $139. Make some sandwiches and toss them in a plastic grocery bag. Thriftiness is hot.

7. Organize a front porch party. Dust off the chairs, open a bag of chips and call the neighbors. Nothing heavy or formal. Your conversations can be as airy as the breeze.

Decks, patios and yards work, too.

8. Waddle with the geese at Country Park. School is out. Children love this. Do we need to draw you a map?

Oh, we do, huh? OK: www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Parks/Facilities/regionalparks/country/ 

9. Swing. Ten minutes and you’ll feel five years younger. Promise.

10. Wipe down the Weber. First things first when cleaning your grill: Lift the cover carefully, says Jim Reitzel, fireplace and grill manager at Fleet-Plummer  in Greensboro. Bees — or worse — could be underneath.

“That can be a pretty rude awakening,” he says.

Then lift the hood, so to speak, to see if any parts are damaged. Clean it with soap and water. Check the propane level, Reitzel says, and give it a test-fire before bringing out the hamburger patties.

And for the love of barbecued chicken, please clean the grates: “If they’ve been in there for three months, you don’t know what’s been scurrying over it.” 

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or margaret.banks@news-record.com