Springtime in the Okanagan is exciting with everything waking up after a long cool winter’s sleep.
Soon the countryside will be beautiful again with the blossoms starting to come out – everything from apple and cherry to apricot trees. Then the bees come to participate in the spring rituals and the red wing blackbirds can already be heard down by the marshes with their lovely song.
There are owls all night long, making their owly sounds and by day the flicker can be heard hammering his head on anything metal. My chimney is a favourite which about 6 times today got a beating from an amorous flicker trying to attract a mate (loudest one wins.)
The lawn next door got raked today. Everything being readied for the summer and the regular hum of the lawn mowers. This evening I could smell a barbecue and a big sense of relief washed over me – like the barbecue was confirmation that winter was actually over.
I didn’t think winter was that bad this year but spring and summer are so amazing in Summerland and the South Okanagan that you always look forward to it. Everything seems to be about growth – the little snowdrops are so beautiful and delicate – and you wonder how they survived the last snowfall which happened just last week. But now they look right as rain and stand strong in the spring’s steady breeze.
This past week for the first time since last year, when I took the dogs out at night, the lawn was almost alive with worms everywhere. It’s like they get sucked back into the earth as soon as your flashlight hits them – they’re very shy which is a good thing… these little rototillers of the earth.
The vineyards with their newly pruned vines start to turn green and looks like it will be an early year for the fruit stands as according to the locals in the know, (thanks Mel) the blossoms will be early this year probably starting in two or three weeks. It’s always a happy day when we get to see the fruit stand proprietors who have been hibernating a lot like the bears up behind the research station.
The sun on my head today felt really pleasant and it was the first opportunity for frisbee with the dogs. It had been five long months for them, but today their enthusiasm and the warm weather was affirmation that we are rushing headlong into a new and more amicable season.
Illustration/photo /article by Stephanie Seaton