Though Spring can be fickle and melodramatic with her entrance, today was a memorable scene to open the play of seasons.
Snow and cold is the Winter norm in most of Canada, and the past three months here where I live have not disappointed, though there comes a time when we feel the need for change. The last few days have been unseasonably warm, temperatures not quite in the teens yet, but nipping at the heels. I sat outside after work for the first time, so that says a lot. The sky was just starting to lose the brilliant cloudless blue it had been all day, the air was warm but still fresh with the memory of winter's chill drifting off the snow, the single malt gold in my glass...then the wow. A distant sound high in the fading sky makes my skin tingle - the Tundra Swans are returning north. The distinct honking voice, higher in pitch than our ubiquitous Canada Geese, makes me look up. In a minute they come into view, hundreds of large white birds flying together in a V shaped ribbon spreading across the sky overhead, glowing in the almost setting sun.
Harbingers of Spring, but we all know here that the weather can still turn nasty and envelop us in the last snows of Winter. It's quite a sight, though. I have no photograph - your mind's eye will have to do.
