Maple syrup, candles and skateboards

What a busy weekend! A very crisp forecast had the Optimists not feeling very optimistic about the Maple Syrup festival...early alerts had them worried that they would run out of syrup because it was too cold for the sap to flow. But alas, when I arrived on Saturday with my family in tow, I was happy to see that the optimism was back and that visitors were flowing into the park.

If you haven't been to Island Lake, you must. This is what I think is a 'manageable' park. Nice trails through the woods for young and old to navigate, a little hilly, scenic points to stop and take pictures or look out at the lake. The majority of the picnic tables are still lined up on end like soldiers, waiting for the snow to melt off of them. However, some were dug out for the day, with lots of room for everyone to enjoy a hot pancake and sausage breakfast. It was so nice to see so many local people out enjoying our in-town park.

An unexpected highlight for me was that upon entering the forest, our first tour guide was a well-known Orangevillian, Roger Johnston, a former Chief of Police for Orangeville. Roger led us through the woods, pointing out features like a "maple in training", the stately old maples, woodpecker holes, and the sap buckets. How nice that people who live and work here, stay here. Roger was always a level headed leader in our community and saw Orangeville through the beginning of its growth period. I went to school with one of his sons, who is now digging dino bones out west. What a pleasure to see Roger's smiling face and have a few moments to catch up before moving to the next station where we learned how to tap trees.

Saturday night saw many parts of our area fading to black as businesses and individuals turned off their lights to participate in Earth Hour. In the park behind town hall, candles were provided by the Town of Orangeville and coffee donated by Mochaberry for what I am sure was a pretty celebration. I heard of a lovely evening of food and candlelight - Peter Cellar's pub at the Mono Cliff's Inn always is cosy and warm, but even more so as the lights were turned off and candles adorned tables everywhere, highlighting the stone walls and moody atmosphere. Why not do it every Saturday night?

And finally, a little piece sign of hope that spring may be coming...I saw an impromptu skateboard park set up this weekend on my street - ramp, rails, jumps. The local boarders will have to wait several more weeks to get out in Rotary Park as the public skate park there is still drifted with the white (grey) stuff.

fields of diamonds

I walk to work. It's been a dream of mine to do so, and now I can.

This morning, it was a crisp -22 degrees, and the open spaces sparkled like fields of diamonds. After our weekend snowfall, everything was crisp and white again.

I passed only 3 people on the street: a man walking his little dog (that gave me a bark and then a quick jump up to sniff me out), a smoker outside of his apartment on Broadway, and the fellow from Citrus City Tattoo out clearing the sidewalk in front of his store. It is march break, so I suspect that many people are still hunkered down inside, maybe even serving up pancakes for their kids.

My walk is about a kilometre and a half, about 10-15 minutes depending on the weather. The snow lately has of course slowed me down. There has been a lot of snow this winter, but the effort to clear snow from sidewalks has not increased relatively. It has been an ongoing debate in Orangeville, I know, with the Town taking responsibility for the main thoroughfares and individuals to take care of the rest. Why can't we hold up our part of the deal? It seems that there are some areas on a regular basis that never get cleared.

If you know of an elderly person, or maybe just a lazy person, why not help them get the job done? You will be helping your neighbours and the other residents of Orangeville who choose to walk. I am blessed that in my neighbourhood, the neighbours are very friendly and helpful and will even come and clear my driveway if I am a little behind schedule! We in turn will help out if needed. It is this kind of "Be Nice, Clear Your Ice" attitude that I wish there was more of in Orangeville when it comes to our public spaces like sidewalks.