When Spring Comes to Canada

When spring comes to Canada it bursts through the door ... no tiptoeing hesitancy ...

On Friday it was winter. On Saturday I went out in jeans, a cotton shirt and a vest and felt the sun burning into my back between my shoulder blades.

The fields were still white expanses, and decaying snowbanks still lined the road, but the ditches along River Road were filled with rushing water in which chunks of ice floated. It was the first time since I had small children that I have felt like floating boats made of paper and toothpicks in a stream running beside a country road.

Every time a car came along, Kenya sat in a mud puddle. I had forgotten over this long winter just how much muddy water can be taken up by a flowing coat, fluffy paws and feathered tail.

In the parking lot of the Wakefield General Store, people breathed more deeply and smiled more easily. We all looked happier. Winter, even in a small friendly village, forces people to huddle into their parkas and make their way quickly into buildings. Spring allows us to become more expansive.

It also allows us to feel lighter, less burdened, as we shed heavy Sorel boots, down parkas, mitts, hats and scarves. I saw a pair of furry gloves on the road. Easy to lose gloves now that you can take them off outdoors.

I hear today will be a warm spring day too, and then tomorrow we will have rain. Then it will either revert to winter long enough to say, "Ha! Gotcha!" or it will suddenly be summer.

I am having trouble getting photos into this post ... Magma is sending at 24Kbps ... will put some in later when the dial-up service wakes up. I hate dial-up!