ILLUSTRATION BY MARY KIRKPATRICK for Globe and Mail article
As comes the breath of Spring, with light and mirth and song,
So does your Spirit bring new days brave, free, and strong.
You come with thrill of life to chase hence Winter's Breath,
To hush to peace the strife of sin that ends in death.
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Welcome to Spring, 2024. Actually, the Spring Equinox was just after 11 PM yesterday but this is the first full day of the season. This seems strange because we woke up to snow on the ground after weeks of unseasonable weather. On March 8th we paddled on a nearby river, about a month before we would usually venture out. A few days ago we managed a modest 16 km cycle around Big Island in Prince Edward Country. This is unusual activity at the end of an abnormal "winter that never was."
While these outings were enjoyable we have lamented the almost total absence of seasonal activity during what has already been declared the mildest winter in Canadian history. We seem to be in the minority in mourning what has happened to our seasons. The radio phone-in on CBC the other day was "what do you miss about winter" and I was tempted to call in and say that "I miss the fact that so few people seem to miss winter." Lots of people shrug even though we endured a wet and foggy Christmas and couldn't participate in the simply pleasures of winter activities. It is the changing of the seasons that brings me genuine delight.
Yesterday I put snowshoes and cross-country skis back up into the garage rafters after hardly any us. While claiming "I can remember when snow was so deep..." might be the source of eye-rolling, the amnesia about actual winter weather is unsettling. Ruth's comment was that we are the frogs in the gradually heating saucepan who don't recognize the danger.
This past Saturday the front page of the Globe and Mail newspaper had the headline The End of Winter and the illustration above. This was an article by the excellent writer, Ian Brown, whose piece was, for me, a disappointing exercise in cognitive dissonance. He wrote about a expensive helicopter-in ski trip in British Columbia during which the group from all around the world managed just a couple of days of hitting the powder because of the lousy conditions.
The title with the article was a bit better. What we lose when we lose winter:A day will come when I can’t physically handle skiing, and that will be the thrilling price of having lived. But to lose the season to climate change feels cataclysmic. Brown did offer some important information and thoughts about what has been unfolding regarding the decline of snowpack across North America.
Still, the way the piece began smacked of privilege in a way that was downright cringey. I'll admit that we do travel and we are increasingly uncomfortable with what this will mean for our grandchildren. Perhaps I'm being unfair to Ian but the article came across as an unintended cautionary tale for all of us in a wealthy society. Using the term "climate change" doesn't serve any of us well because this is a calamity. In BC and Alberta, ski provinces, the wildfires that never went out last year are already flaring up. We've just heard that most of the cities with the worst air quality in North America last year were in Western Canada because of those unprecedented conflagrations.
Enough of this. I need to book an appointment to change my snow tires, the ones I didn't need to put on in the first place. I will be hopeful, I will be hopeful, Easter is coming.
1 The spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
The world has changed, and God is at the heart of it!
New light, new day, new colour after winter grey.
New light, new day,
the spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
2 The sun is warm, let all God's children play in it!
The world expands, let's spread the Gospel way in it!
New leaf, new thrust, new greening for the love of Christ.
New leaf, new thrust,
the sun is warm, let all God's children play in it!
3 The spring has come, new people are the flowers of it.
Through wind and rain, new life is in the showers of it.
New bud, new shoot, new hope will bear the Spirit's fruit.
New bud, new shoot,
the spring has come, new people are the flowers of it!
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4 comments:
You're not alone, David, in lamenting about the lack of a winter. I'm not a big fan of minus 30 degree temperatures, but I like lots of snow(and I know the farmers are always happy about that too).
Meanwhile, I wouldn't change those tires too soon. It's Canada after all!
Agreed about the tires, Roger. It looks like snow on Friday. April 16 for the changeover -- better safe than sorry!
I agree 100% David. I love winter activities and the joy of the reflected light from the snow. And the changing of the seasons. I'm saddened by the prospect of a disappearing winter as we used to know it on a personal level and for the global climate as well. K
One of the aspects we loved about living in Sudbury was real winter, even though that affection tended to wane in late April -- there were Easters that looked more like Christmas! We've heard for a number of years now that the weather has changed considerably. Perhaps we need to develop some grief resources to mourn the death of winter. Thanks Kathy.
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