Oh yes, Spring in the interior desert of BC – now you see it, now you don’t – oh wait, it’s back again… Don’t you love it?
I was just leaving Cache Creek on Monday, mid-morning. Driving past Wastech I was thinking to myself: “Time to make an appointment to get my tires changed oh wait is that a snowflake?”
Yes indeedy. A wee bit of snow in Cache Creek, in Ashcroft, a little bit more in Loon Lake and Kamloops. Probably a lot more in Clinton and Logan Lake.
I call it Spring Rain.
I also call it unspeakable names, because I’m walking around Ashcroft in early springtime gear and my coat, which I’d rather have, is back home in Cache Creek.
I’m just thankful that I didn’t succumb to the temptation to ditch my sweater, which I was considering just two days previous to that.
Isn’t it wonderful? Every part of the country has its own characteristics of spring. Way up north it was the tornado-force winds, the geese arriving back and the green glow around the poplar (cottonwood) trees. In southern Ontario (trying to remember back that long ago) it was dad trying to force the roto-tiller though the still half-frozen soil in the garden at the start of May. Here, it’s the return of the hummingbirds and the osprey.
I have to admit, I feel sorry for them the most when spring decides to slack off and let a bit of winter creep back in. They came for the great local weather, not for the wintery garbage that they can experience pretty much anywhere in Canada.
Of course, it would happen just after I finally got all of my vegetable seeds planted (in trays) after weeks of procrastination: Six variety of tomatoes (not as bad as last year’s eight varieties), three varieties of peppers, and the singletons of zucchini, cumbers and the rest. Then, on planting day, four varieties of beans, two of peas, two more of carrots, and on and on.
But it’s okay. If I’ve done nothing else over my five-plus decades of existence, it’s to learn that Spring will come when it’s ready.
It’s the anticipation that makes it special.
Wendy Coomber is editor of the Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal
