"I think we're less worried about terrorism now because we went over and took care of business,'' said Willie Conyers Jr. of Lancaster, who was doing a little Easter shopping of his own this morning at Central Market.

"I think President Bush did a hell of a job,'' he said.

Conyers hit the nail on the head, describing the mood of fellow shoppers at Central Market today who were mostly relaxed and joyous about the holiday.

A lot of the relief, they said, had to do with how quickly the United States toppled the Iraqi leadership.

"The war turned out to be a good thing,'' said Russ Gooding of Ephrata, who was getting milk jugs refilled at market.

Gooding and his wife, Erica, said they think the outcome of the Iraq conflict lowered the threat of terrorism in America.

"Having seen how quickly our forces cleaned house might make other nations very reticent about any terrorism attacks that could be traced back to them,'' said Russ Gooding.

Most of America is agreeing with the Goodings.

For the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans were focusing on things other than war and terrorism, according to a new national poll taken April 10-16 by the Pew Research Center, an independent opinion-research group based in Washington.

That same poll found President George W. Bush's overall approval rating to be high -- 72 percent.

And while people in other places named the economy as their current top worry, people here seemed more optimistic.

"I think how well things are going over there has had a calming effect on people,'' said Janie Eckroth of Elizabethtown. "I think things are changing to the positive in the economy, too.''

Rob Bowman, president of Charter Homes, said he is more optimistic about the economy today than he was several months ago.

"Three or four months ago there was clearly less direction and less consensus on issues like the economy,'' said Bowman. "I think the war brought a lot of uncertainty but it exposed problems that needed resolved. I think Bush did an excellent job.''

Bowman said he is less concerned about terrorism now as well.

"I'm not as focused on it as much as I was after September 11,'' he said. "I know it could happen here. That's a fact of life that's not going to change.''

Pam Miles of New Providence was wearing yellow, fuzzy bunny ears at the Spring Glen stand at Central Market today.

Despite her appearance, she had some more serious thoughts on the mood of shoppers during this holiday weekend.

"I think if it's anything with people, it's an aura of relief now that we've done as well as we have in Iraq,'' Miles said.

She said customers at the stand were talking more about their holiday meal plans than they were about wars and terrorism.

One thing she noticed that was different from past years: the outfits.

"I'm seeing a lot of patriotic shirts, jackets and handbags,'' said Miles. "Lots of yellow. I think the awareness is up, but people are more euphoric.''

"Nine-eleven has changed things all over the world,'' said Eckroth. "You never know what's out there but I think people are not as concerned right now.

I still think about the troops and the families of the people who were killed,'' she said. "But since Bush did the difficult thing that needed to be done, people can think about the Easter season.''

Eckroth said she expects the president will focus on the economy, now that most of the conflict seems to be over in Iraq.

The economy seemed to be doing just fine in Lancaster County, if the malls, the highways and the market were any indications.

Traffic was slow and stores everywhere seemed to packed with customers Friday and Saturday.

Central Market standholders were working hard but glad for all the business.

David and Nina Stoltzfus of the Upper Crust Bakery in Central Market were up all night baking because, according to David, people "wiped them out'' Friday.

"People aren't thinking about the war, they're thinking about Easter,'' said Rose Meck who was busy at her family's popular market produce stand.

"This is the busiest I've ever seen,'' said one standholder selling plants.

"A lot more young couples have been coming to market on Saturday's recently,'' said another.

One young couple, 30-something Jeff and Vanessa Tate of Lancaster, have both seen the fallout of terrorism and a lagging economy over the past 1/4 years.

Jeff Tate works for Triangle Communications in New Holland, which sells commercial sound and security systems.

"The sound business was down while the security side was way up,'' he said.

Vanessa Tate said it was too early to tell yet if the threat of terrorism was a help or hindrance to the Alliance Insurance Group of Lancaster where she works.

"Certainly, right now we're getting a lot of calls for insurance to cover terrorist strikes,''said Mrs. Tate. "But it's more expensive for companies to buy so I don't know if it's helping the economy.''

"I think Bush is doing a good job,'' said her husband.

"If he can turn my 401K (retirement investment) around, I'll be happy about that,'' he laughed.

At least he can still joke about it.

Glenn Breidenstine of Lancaster said the outcome of the war in Iraq re-established the United States as a superpower.

"I think it will discourage terrorism in some of those other countries,'' Breidenstine said. "I'm not as worried about it now.''

With that said, Breidenstine and his wife, Pat, continued filling their shopping bags at market.

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