Today, Saturday the 20th of March was the first day of spring. It was a beautiful sunny day; warm with a light breeze; just what you picture when you think of spring.
When you are living in Calgary (or most of Canada), winter is usually cold and dark with the sun much lower on the horizon. Some people suffer from depression in winter caused by the reduced sunlight. However, I suspect much of the depression is actually caused by realizing your favourite hockey team might not make the playoffs.
So spring brings optimism. (Football will be starting up soon; maybe they will do better.)
The season is changing and the dormant vegetation will be springing to life (in mid-May). Birds will migrate back and feast on the emerging mosquitoes. We get to spend more time outside mowing the lawn, painting the house, and communing with nature… and burning food on the BBQ. People rush out to enjoy our all too short summer; packing as much activity as they can into the season. Snow in July and severe thunderstorms are some of the surprises nature sometimes has for us in summer.
The economy follows a similar cycle and business has an certain optimism to it right now. It isn't summer yet… I suspect that it is a ways off yet. But already I can hear the buzzing of those mosquitoes. Here's hoping that blessings of the next economic summer outweigh the nuisances.
Remember to enjoy it as much as you can and just like the squirrels, remember to store some nuts for the coming winter. After all, the next winter will follow no matter how much we wish otherwise.
But as long as you have lots of nuts, winter isn't so bad. And if you happen to grow nuts in winter, you can make a fortune while everyone else is hibernating (or watching hockey).
