East Ottawa Star
Published: Friday, March 27, 2009 Get active for spring Alas, the 15-day extended spring vacation came to a sudden end as our flight from Florida touched down on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday at the office can best be described as a safari excursion through my overflowing inbox, both electronic and hard copy. Thank goodness it was a two-day work week and boy could I get used to those. Now if only I could be paid a five-day salary for two days of work. But I digress. Spring is in the air in Orléans and here are the telltale signs. Roll up the rim to win is in full gear at each Tim Horton’s. Indeed it is a distinctive Canadian contest by virtue of its politeness. Instead of the rim saying sorry you caffeine-addicted schmoe, we get a simple, “Please play again.” And tomorrow morning I will. The snow melt continues and the rain and warm weather we are having makes clearing the residual ice at the end of the driveway a moot point. The bad news is the eaves trough extensions need to go on this weekend to push the coming rains and melt well away from the foundation. Sadly with arrival of another spring comes the eyesore, visual pollution, sandwich board signs on Innes, Tenth Line, St. Joseph and Orléans Boulevard complete with new fluorescent letters and updates on the latest retail discounts and specials. Local soccer and baseball clubs also tip their hand to the arrival of spring with final registration sessions for their respective competitive and house league seasons. However, by far the most revealing sign of spring is happening this weekend on every street in our community. Impromptu driveway gatherings will occur and blossom like dandelions. On my own street it will start with one garage door open, then two and five and eight. Next, lounge chairs and the foldable soccer mom, red, Canada-flag chairs will appear on one or two driveways. Then magically, butts will appear in those seats with folks wearing jeans and a sweater and, if you are like me, some folks will wear shorts just because they can in an act that almost beckons for bypassing spring direct to the stifling summer heat. And yes, a cooler or two will almost appear out of this air as we soak up spring’s first rays with no SPF required. The other sign of spring will be the record number of cyclists, in-line skaters and joggers/runners pounding our streets, sidewalks and bike paths (those where the snow has sufficiently melted away) over the coming days and weeks. It’s been a long winter and the transit strike and Senators turmoil (although they’re on a roll now) have both served to make Winter 2008/2009 one of the more miserable ones in this scribe’s recent memory. But it’s all behind us now. So let’s look forward to spring and summer 2009 and kick both seasons off this weekend in style with some physical activity and friendly banter with the neighbours. = = = = = Comments can be sent to Walter Robinson at orleansouttakes@transcontinental.ca. |