Spring Things

It seems like winter is finally loosening its grip. I'll even admit it's been long this year. You probably know if you read this column that I'm one of those rare people who actually enjoy the winter. It's been a fabulous season for skiing and I can't seem to stop. The snow still lingers and calls out to us addicted types. It was warm and sunny yesterday afternoon as I raked the lawn but earlier that morning I had been to Poley Mountain with another snow loving buddy and we skied the now closed slopes. It's a great work out walking up that hill carrying our skis. I know some of you are shaking your head and wondering about our sanity. The weekend before we were in the Chic Choc Mountains of Gaspe for some late season telemark turns and we found ourselves skiing on mountain tops through about 12 cm of fresh snow. Even closer to home, Crabbe Mountain near Fredericton has so much snow it plans to stay open until the beginning of May, if weather and willing skiers permit. That's the thing, at this time of year people aren't very interested in skiing any more. They want to move on to summery things. I do too. I want to get out kayaking and hiking but it's tough when the snow is still there tantalising us. Even when I'm raking the lawn I have to look at two small piles of snow still clinging to life in the shadiest part of the yard. So it's hard saying goodbye to a stubborn winter that's been a lot of fun but I know it's time to turn the page and move into another season.

But the remnants of winter still have a way of haunting us. People living near the water are especially concerned what the spring may bring. There is so much snow still on the ground up north that folks living in low lying areas beside the St. John river are worried about a high freshet this year. For good reason too. All that snow melt has to go somewhere. Here in Grand Bay-Westfield the Riverside Park area seems to get hit the hardest. It's been about three years now since the area was last flooded by high water. People are most concerned about a quick melt accompanied by heavy rain. So far nights have remained cold, easing the flow of water into the river. Everyone including the provincial EMO is hoping that continues. Nevertheless people in Riverside Park are moving things to higher ground and preparing for the worst. We'll all be watching the water levels over the next few weeks.


Something else people are watching is the progress of the new running track at River Valley Middle School. Construction has started again and the track looks like it's getting close to completion. Even in its unfinished and rough condition the track looks to be smoother than some of the roads around town. The winter has taken a toll on the pavement. Some particularly bad stretches of Woolastook Drive have so many pot holes and heaves that I don't even drive along there anymore if I can avoid it. I need to replace the struts in the car so you can imagine the kind of ride I'm getting through town. When you drive into Saint John through the business section of Grand Bay-Westfield that entire right hand lane is a mine-field from the Irving to the Sobey's entrance. I go to work for the early, early shift these days so fortunately when I drive through that area there is no traffic on the road and I can veer over into the other lane. But I've seen drivers do that to avoid the bumps when the road is busy. Not a good idea.

Bad roads lead us to the municipal election on May 12th, another sign of spring this year. There is a full slate of quality candidates running for mayor and council. Our job now is to choose. It's our duty too because unless we do our homework and pick who we feel are the best candidates for the job, we really have no right to complain about the job they're doing after the fact. So go to the candidates meeting, ask questions and most important of all, vote on the 12th.

As for me, I have more yard work to do and maybe, just maybe one more ski to get in.

River Valley Rambler - This and That

Since I started writing the blog at rivervalleyrambler.blogspot.com/ I've changed my approach to writing. Instead of compiling a longer piece on one topic I've started thinking of content in terms of shorter chunks about various ideas. So I'll try that with this column.

First of all I hope by the time you read this we're not into a federal election campaign. It seems Stephen Harper is chomping at the bit to call an election. I don't know why. Isn't he already the Prime Minister? We don't need an election and I know most Canadians don't want one. We're being electioned to death, especially here in New Brunswick. We just had a provincial election. We've had our share of by-elections recently. The last federal election wasn't long ago and the municipal elections aren’t that far off anymore. Please stop. I appreciate my right to vote but I don't want to do it every few months. I also don't want the government to spend my tax money on an election I don't want.

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I seem to have misplaced my driveway, or at least a good portion of it. The torrential rains that fell after the snow and freezing rain washed away a lot of gravel. It didn't really wash it away. It just moved it into the ditch. Now the drive looks like a mini grand canyon with deep river valleys meandering down its length like snakes. Instead of thousands of years of erosion, this only took a few hours of rain to accomplish. My driveway is on a fairly steep hill and washouts like this happen every 2 or 3 years. It's usually in the spring when the driveway is clear but ice and snow remains piled up on the side and that leaves the water only one place to go.

So I got out the wheel-barrel and shovel and went to retrieve what I could of my driveway from the ditch and snow bank at the bottom. Some of the deeper holes I filled one shovel full at a time. After I raked and smoothed things out it still looked like Niagara Falls had come down the driveway but at least it was patched up enough to allow us to drive up and down without fear of losing an axle.

This just didn't happen to me. The torrential rains took out a lot of driveways and ditches in town. It also flooded many basements. When you live on the side of a hill like many people in Grand Bay-Westfield do, running water is always going to be a concern.

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Finally and still with the theme of running water, I read a terrific article about the St. John River in the latest edition of Canadian Geographic Magazine. It's about a lazy summer paddle in a canoe through the islands upriver of Fredericton. UNB professor Mark Anthony Jarman writes the story. Brian Atkinson took the beautiful photographs featured in the piece. It details the experience of paddling that part of the river along with an historical context. That's what you'd expect and it's the kind of writing tourism departments like to see because it's good for business. But what I really like about the piece are the extra, not so positive elements that Jarman has added. He writes, for instance, about bones and skulls of missing-persons from upriver washing up and lodging in the roots of butternut trees every year. I didn't know that. He writes of the glory days of river steamers and then adds how they collided or caught fire and how their boilers had a tendency to explode. He mentions the shooting and looting and burning and scalping that went on in the river valley in the past. Jarman doesn't dwell on the negative but he doesn't gloss over it. By adding these elements he makes the article more interesting and compelling and honest. It's great writing and having it published in a national magazine has to be good for the province.

(Find this column, past columns and other unique content of interest to the area by going online to rivervalleyrambler.blogspot.com/)