SPRING HAS SPRUNG

What could be better than watching the snow melt and what was below it begins to grow again.

It amazes me how small bushes begin to sprout buds that almost blossom before your eyes.

The trees come next and if you live in a wooded area you feel that nice cozy feeling that pretty damn soon you’ll be living among birds chirping, squirrels jumping from branch to branch and raccoons doing their thing.

Throw in hawks gliding overhead in search of tasty bits of sparrow or whatever for dinner. Or maybe for lunch. Or even for breakfast for the early risers.

I often wonder how many wild animals live on this acre? We woke one morning to see four deer – momma, poppa and two little ones poking their noses into the early spring spouts.

We catch the odd raccoon sleeping in the crutch of a tree, or black squirrels hurrying straight up a tree, their mouths full of dead leaves that will give their nests a soft blanket for their newborns.

Soon, in a matter of a few short weeks, the trees, maples and oaks included, will be thick with foliage.

Author’s comment: I enjoy the four seasons. Here we are in spring with everything coming alive around us. Then there is the warmth of summer which brings us in the bright, vibrant colors of autumn. Winter is next with its own pleasures. All we really must do is dress for it.

GONE BUT NOT Forgotten

There is nothing more unsettling than being the last to know when a good friend dies. I would’ve heard sooner than later, but life isn’t always that accommodating.

His name is Ken Maynard. He lived here in Woodbridge most of his life, if not all of it. The Maynards came from Ireland back in the mid-1800s. It was a bone of contention between Ken and me because I say the Wallace clan arrived in Woodbridge a decade before the Maynards.

He’d rattle off an overwhelming bunch of statistics that to me proved absolutely nothing. Zilch!

Not that it matters. What matters is how Ken worked so readily, steadily for the Woodbridge community. I had no idea how the time he spent on local endeavors, taking no credit for them.

Here’s what I mean:

- He was a member of the Rotary Club of Woodbridge since 1962.

- A church warden of Christ Church in Woodbridge where he served as a lay delegate to the general synod.

- A longtime member of its cemetery board.

- Throw in his membership in the Hamilton Warplane Heritage museum.

- A board member of the Mackenzie branch 414 of the Royal Canadian Legion, having been a past president and Secretary manager of the Woodbridge Agricultural Society. Known lovingly as the Woodbridge Fair, held every Thanksgiving weekend.

- He was in charge - on the side - of the fair’s Giant pumpkin contest which was a major hit last year.

- Throw in Ken hand-building an off-grid cottage on an island in Georgian Bay and that says a lot about his spunkiness.

- Past chair of Vaughan Historical board. These are only a small sample of his accomplishments.

Author’s comment: Throw in all this with a patient wife, Taflyn Maynard and three sons who, I can only guess, shrugged with a shrug when Ken came up with another novel idea. 'Bye, good friend...