We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there, for sure.

But the Bandit is too busy running from the sheriff to help the Miss-Lou right now, so roll up your sleeves.

We are four days from the start of Spring Pilgrimage, folks, and no offense, but this place is a mess, parts of it anyway.

The combination of several weeks of warm temperatures, rains and a few storms seem to have left our gorgeous city a bit unprepared for the anticipated onslaught of tourists.

Grass started growing before it should have. But rains have prevented city and private workers from being able to do much about it.

The end results is tufts of grass poking through concrete at the new John R. Junkin and Seargent S. Prentiss intersection, ankle-high weeds sprouting everywhere and a long list of to-dos before Saturday.

With any luck from the weather, we’ll all be able to get outside and do our part soon.

Preparing our city for pilgrimage isn’t just the job of the city public works department and the tourism officials.

Whether you like it or not, tourism is the biggest industry in town right now.

Turning our backs on the dollars Pilgrimage will bring would be foolish.

Grab a trash bag, a grass trimmer and a smile and let’s start primping.