Water Balloons in April

I'm looking back on this day wondering how it was even possible that on April 25th, the boys were running around the yard for three hours with nothing but shorts on, hurling water balloons hither and thither.  For northern Alberta, the thoughts of April 25th and summer-like warmth and sunshine, don't quite fit together.  "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" in the famous words of Jerry Seinfeld.


It was a glorious day, the chives jutting out of the soil, stretching toward the sun.  The tulips rising, too, the promise of bright colour just around the corner.

"It was snowing when I got up this morning," said my neighbor Norm, obviously delighted with the way our Easter Monday ended up.

"It finally feels like spring."

Ben and Owen dumped a bag of tiny water balloons on the sidewalk next to the front water tap.  I was quickly enlisted to handle the waterworks as their tiny hands couldn't negotiate the knots that needed to be made.  Every fourth balloon sprung a leak while one in ten exploded all over me.


After they got tired of going after each other they decided to give the Brian Jean election sign a good cleaning.  With all the dust that's kicked up at this time of year, it looked shiny and new after they were done.


I'm sure we'll have a few more days of nasty cold before the warm weather descends for good.  But, it was nice to have a brief taste of what summer will bring, and even nicer to see the boys outside enjoying water balloons in April.


Meanwhile, I went out and bought my 2011-2012 Alberta Fishing License and my first tub of minnows this morning before cleaning out my tackle box in hopes of maybe finding a spot on the Athabasca next weekend to toss my pickerel rig in the water.  That moment cannot arrive soon enough.  Unfortunately, the ice left over from Saturday's river break stands in the way of safe fishing for the moment.  It needs a few more days of sunshine before it will melt away and flow north to Fort Chipewyan.

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