The heat has been turned off, the flip flops are out and there’s no going back. Spring has sprung!
There’s nothing like the first few days of warm weather to get you excited about the pending summer. It’s a great time and there’s no better way to celebrate the blue skies and warm feel of the sun then getting outside and discovering all the great stuff happening around Windsor and Essex County. All of a sudden life is good!
Weeks ago in early March, when we were being teased with high temperatures for a mere few days, I dusted off my rollerblades, turned off the heat in the house, pulled out the sandals and ironed the skirts. This was it, I thought. After months of dreary winter weather and being cooped up inside, I was ready to break loose and hit the trail.
What a great few days those were. I called up a friend to let loose my excitement.
“What a glorious day!” I tell him in my really bad Irish accent, that I insist on using when talking about the weather.
“It sure is. What do you want to do?” he says in his regular Canadian accent.
“Everything! Let’s go outside and run around the neighbourhood.”
“Umm…okay.” (Apparently he wasn’t as into randomly running around the neighbourhood as I was.)
But my excitement got the best of me and after a few short, sun drenched days, the bitter cold returned and the heat was back on, flip flops unused, skirts unworn and rollerblades sitting in the entrance hallway….waiting.
Now a month later and it’s back! The blossoms are about to burst into bloom along Giles Boulevard, the tulips in Jackson Park are making their return and, more importantly, I wore my flipflops this past weekend. It’s on!
All the signs of summer are coming together: the lawn girl stopping by to give my forest of a front yard a much needed trim, a tan/burn on the weekend from falling asleep in the grass and the sounds of a booming bass eminating from cars as they drive past my home. Then today, the ultimate indication that summer is making it’s return. My co-worker, Mike, and I were taking a walk downtown and there he was on the corner of Park and Ouellette. Street food vendor guy. As we walked by we both took in a big breath of air and let the smell of cooked sausage on a bun waft over us. Mmmmm…summer.
Riverfront Trail
There are so many things to do around the city and for most of them you don’t even have to pay a cent. Take a walk down the Riverfront Trail and visit the Odette Sculpture Garden, bike or blade down the Ganatchio Trail or pack a picnic basket and enjoy a lunch in one of our great parks. I love being able to ride my bike down to Malden and trek the trails. We have a great trail system in Windsor and I always try to take advantage of them whether it’s walking, biking or blading.
In the next few weeks check out these events as we gear up for summer:
Cherry Blossom Festival at Fujisawa Zen Gardens
Festival of Birds on May 1 at Point Pelee National Park
Hillman Spring Shore and Songbird Celebration on May 12 at Hillman Marsh Conservation Area
Civic Celebration on May 21 at Riverfront Festival Plaza
For more details on the above events or for other happenings check out the WindsorEats Event Guide!
