WELCOME SPRING!

“Living was a horse between your legs and a carbine under one leg and a hill and a valley and a stream with trees along it and the far side of the valley and the hills beyond.” Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls

People say things like “I don’t really care if I catch fish when I go fishing” and other nonsense like that. But what I think they are eluding to is that there is more to the outdoors than the task at hand; be it climbing a mountain, catching a fish, or running a rapids. The joy of the outdoors is full of hidden gems that hide in your subconscious and rise to the surface when something tweaks that memory; be it a smell or a sound - like the sound of a songbird at sunrise.

For example, the other morning as I headed out my back door the sky was just beginning to lighten and the sunrise was preluded by an orange hue to the east. There was that smell of dampness that reminds me of spring, and a bird making a kind of forlorn call that I instantly recognized as something I often hear when I’m out steelhead fishing in April and May at first light. The call had three tones that sounded like the bird was sleepily saying “Good morning.”

I checked with local bird expert and wildlife biologist, Brian Ratcliffe, who advised me this call was that of the black-capped chickadee. He explained this bird arrives in our area in early spring and the call I heard was a territorial call - a precursor to the mating season. Later on in the spring, once mating has commenced, the chickadee’s call has several more tones and is more upbeat in nature.

As this is a family-friendly blog, I’ll let you figure out why this little bird is happier.

Anyway, such is the nature of spring - as elusive as it can be in these parts.

By now, everyone is tired of winter. You get teased by a sunny 8-degree afternoon and feel like you’ve just won the lottery. Next morning it’s -20 with windchill, and the following day you’re shovelling snow again.

In this sense April can be the most challenging month of the calendar.

But I do believe that we Canadians take the diversity of having four distinct seasons for granted. I spoke to someone recently who used to live in Hawaii but moved to Thunder Bay for a full time career. “Man, come December that must have felt like a kick to the groin with a steel-toed boot.” Was my response.

But he explained that in Hawaii every day is the same, and believe it or not 27-degrees gets old after a while.

That seems difficult to fathom at first. But having four distinct seasons does bring interest and challenge to our lives. Each season has it’s own personality, weather and associated interests and pastimes.

Spring is unique in that it bears the feel of new beginnings. The song of the black-capped chickadee, the moist warm morning air and warm sun rays on your face seem to say, “Let the games begin.”

Welcome spring! We missed you.

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