Spring and I Have Reconciled

Now that the weather isn't as sweltering hot as it was a few days ago, I am finally allowing myself to enjoy spring. The tulips have popped out of the ground, my small lilac bush has small leaves on it and my larger lilac bush is definitely budding. Birds are singing through my open windows. It's nice.

Spring has come pretty early to the Ottawa area this year. I'm still not certain that another snowstorm won't take us by surprise at the end of April, but for the time being, this is nice. It's Friday, the children have a three-day weekend starting tomorrow, and miraculously no one has caught that final, dreadful spring cold that sometimes sneaks up on us. Knock on wood.

This shall be a weekend of planting flower seeds (inside, for the time being), bicycle rides and a visit to a cabane à sucre for a walk in the woods and a pancake lunch with lots of maple syrup. Possibly some eggs and bacon too. ;o)

I am thankful that spring has arrived. The days are growing longer and the children can stay outside a little later to play. I'm sure we are going to get the baseball equipment out soon, as well as the soccer and basketballs. The bikes have been out of the back shed for a while now, and the nearby Dairy Queen is once again open for business.

We live in such a perfect location. There is a nice park only a block and a half away with two playgrounds, a baseball field, basketball courts, and a sandy beach on the Ottawa River. (Or, as the local French population likes to call it, the Rivière des Outaouais.) A little further in the opposite direction, we are on the doorstep of Gatineau Park. Spring is the time to take advantage of all these treasures while the sun is shining, but it isn't so smotheringly hot as to drive me indoors until after the sun sets. (Remember, I don't take to the heat very well.)

Today's post is a bit of a reconciliation with spring, but also an apology for the less-than-positive post I wrote a while ago about spring arriving. Like any other human being, I can be grumpy about some things sometimes, but now spring has managed to thaw even my winter-loving heart. :o)