Going to the Coast for a weekend can be an eye-opening experience, besides the fact that it’s always a good idea to get out of Dodge every now and then to get some much-needed perspective on your own life.
We travelled the Coquihalla, which doesn’t have near as much snow as usual by the way and for the most part the driving was spring-like, to get to a funeral, which is also a good time to take stock of family and blessings and the reality of beginnings and ends.
It was a good family weekend brought on by a sad situation but there was enough bonding with loved ones, and even people I’ve never met before, to reaffirm the importance of funerals for those left behind.
However that’s not what this column set out to be about, yeah, like that’s never happened before.
Ahem.
The weather down there was truly spectacular.
The sun was shining, the temperature was well into the double digits and the blossoms were everywhere.
I would say at least half the residents of Delta were out in their yards, either cutting their very green lawns or patching up their fences or pruning trees that looked like they’d been celebrating spring for weeks already, and now it was the people’s turn as they greeted neighbours they might not have seen for months.
It was truly beautiful and the sights, tastes, smells, sounds and feel of spring were everywhere providing a lift to everyone, including those of us who were dealing with the realities of the other side of the circle of life.
It seemed like everyone had a spring in their step, and rightfully so.
As we headed back to the Interior it occurred to me that the Coast is at least six weeks ahead of us when it comes to the approaching season.
I mean we are getting more than our usual share of sunshine of late but things are still in the relatively dormant stage and it’s, well, pretty darn dull in them thar hills, not to mention our backyards.
So when you see a season that you’re anxiously looking forward to in full bloom just down the road a stretch it can be a little, well, disheartening.
Of course everything’s relative and to actually complain about our situation when the rest of the country is experiencing mindnumbing cold or yet another snowstorm seems wrong somehow. Maybe even unCanadian.
We facetimed a cousin from Winnipeg who couldn’t make it out for the funeral last weekend and he was grateful it was only -17 at the time of the conversation.
And I have a sister-in-law in New Brunswick who has been hammered again and again by storms this winter, although when we reached out to her recently to console her we found out she was in the Bahamas.
OK, empathy can only go so far. But I think you get my point.
There’s things to be grateful for and there’s things to be wistful about but it’s important to put it in some kind of perspective.
It may be more than a couple shades of grey in these parts right now but we are very fortunate that spring is in the air, sun is in the forecast and the promise of better days ahead is pretty much a guarantee.
Of course it’s only the beginning of March, so another blast of winter isn’t out of the realms of possibility and the mountains could use the snow, but we are on our way and that’s a good thing that we should all feel good about.
Besides, although my Coastal relatives denied it, apparently every weekend isn’t like the one I just experienced down there. And apparently it rains on occasion too.
