Easter Feaster and spring

My indoor spring-scape.

This has been a long winter. Some might say a very long winter. I have one tiny clump of snow still on my boulevard.

With this long weekend of Easter upon us, I am starting to see a glimpse of spring — longer blue skied days, birds are singing, and the raccoons have taken to knocking over my garbage bin again.

There still aren't any real signs of life in my garden, not even on my pussy willow standard, but, as the trend of longer and sunnier days continues, budding gardens can't be far behind. Another sign of spring is that our first yard waste pick-up for the season is next week. Aside from all my retired neighbours, who have way too much time on their hands, I haven't even thought of lifting a twig. I'm sure they will have oodles of bags for the compost truck. I'm actually looking forward to getting out and cleaning up the garden, but am waiting for the lawn to firm up a bit, before I start traipsing over it.

While spring is slow in coming outside, I keep on springing up the inside of my house with tulips, to let me know my own can't be too far away now.

Easter is traditionally the start of spring for me, and with it falling early this year, I hope spring comes early too.

March Break

Me, on top of the Swiss Alps.
One of my favourite March Breaks.

Oh, to be a student again, well, more precisely, to be a student on March Break this week. The coveted week off, by every student, in the middle of what feels like an endless winter.

I was lucky enough to have wonderful March break holidays when I was a kid. During my high school years my Dad and I would go on amazing ski holidays. A week to bond and ski, laugh and create memories. It was all good fun. We skied the American and Canadian Rockies, the Austrian and Swiss Alps, until my grade thirteen year, when I fell down a staircase, while on a ski trip with friends, and ended up with my leg in a cast. Mexico, would have to be substituted for Park City Utah.

March break always seemed to arrive just in the nick of time, when you felt you couldn't deal with the endless grey days any longer. March break should be mandatory for everyone. A respite from work and the everyday routine, is a tonic that we can all benefit from, particularly when we live in a northern, colder climate. Sadly, it is not mandatory for all. Alas, we've just sprung our clocks forward an hour, and the days will be getting longer, and daylight will last longer, so, all in all, things are looking up.