Spring 2025
The early spring blossoms of daffodils are my absolute favourite, followed closely by the later spring beauty of the flowering fruit trees. My street is festooned with pink blossoms from flowering crabapple trees and the curbs fill with pink wedding confetti. Am I dating myself with that reference? Do you remember the bags of colourful confetti that we’d gleefully hurl over brides and grooms to the horror of custodians everywhere? The petals falling from these lush fruit trees are better than snow or paper cutouts, I can tell you.
The roads are clear again for travel, and I packed my bags for a weekend in Toronto to hear a friend speak at an Alanon conference. (For anyone interested, Al-anon is for those of us who live with, love or have loved and “been affected” by another’s addiction(s), especially alcohol. We’re the crazy ones. They’re just fine. Ask them. We’re the ones twitching, cleaning up messes, and trying to control them. For more information, and to find a meeting near you see www.Alanon.org).
On our way to Toronto, my sister and I stopped at Burlington’s Royal Botanical Gardens to see the Alice in Wonderland display. The theme was beautifully depicted with garden themed exhibits, and we wandered through the sweet smells of spring bulbs blooming everywhere. An artist’s exhibition was mesmerizing with textiles woven, crocheted, embroidered, and sewn in ingenious ways and in wonderful colours. There was a lot to enjoy!
While in downtown Toronto we met up with a dear cousin we rarely see, and visited a chocolate factory (@chocolatedekat) where you get a freebie with your email and walked on the beach several times, enjoying the stiff breeze and the crazy person attempting to windsurf.
After a wonderful time at the conference, (it’s anonymous, so no details, sorry!) we drove home via Hamilton Art Gallery and witnessed an incredible exhibition by the little known (to me, anyway) Canadian Impressionist artist, Helen McNicholl. One of her paintings, The Bean Harvest, was discovered after being missing for over a century. A BBC program investigated and working with the Hamilton Art Gallery proved the painting’s authenticity, and was included in this exhibition of her work. The Art Gallery of Ontario exhibited McNicholl’s work with Mary Cassatt a few years ago and what I wouldn’t give to have been there! Reading her (sadly short) life story and seeing her art in person was an experience of a lifetime. I’m grateful we could see it and buy the catalogue (etc!) to remember the joy filled canvases. The gift shop also had one of the best selections of art books I’ve seen, by the way!
After a winter spent mostly hibernating indoors, many of my memorable springtime jaunts are not surprisingly outside. I drove about an hour to witness the majestic vision of a lake full of tundra swans on their migration route north after wintering in warmer climates. There’s a great lookout for birders to enjoy the view, but I was most struck when I saw several flying low overhead and how brilliantly the sun shone from their wings! It was like silver and I wished I could capture it but it was an impressive vision and sparkled like nothing else. White and silver on a pale blue sky – how to possibly capture the contrast?
Later this spring I was deeply moved to be included in a trip to Niagara on the Lake with my family to see the tulip fields in all their glory. I’ve seen others’ photos in Ottawa, Holland and the US, but I’d never made it in person. What a display! The varieties of shapes and colours were unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many pictures in one day. Truly stunning to see.
Blossoms bring hope to the world, and spring feels like months of great hope after a long dark winter.
