What’s not to like about spring? Yes, I know, for us allergy sufferers it can be quite unpleasant, but there is something about spring which, I feel, energizes us all. Here on Vancouver Island spring is now in full swing. Oh, the colors! The birds singing! Life bursting out all around. Springtime brings so much promise and joy to the heart. We survived another winter! WE DID IT! Well, we’re kind of spoiled those of us living here on southern Vancouver Island where winter is not exactly the great white north as some people believe all of Canada is. No, here in Victoria our winters are typically mild and rarely do we get snow. The climate here is moderate: not too hot in the summer, and not too cold in the winter.
There have been in the past, however, a few exceptions. In 2021 we had a heat dome in June that lasted a week. It was brutal, to say the least. I don’t recall ever experiencing something like that before and I’m not sure I even heard the term ‘heat dome’ previously until it showed up. I really don’t care much for extreme temperatures and the temperature here hit 39.9 which is just over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, we have air conditioning but for those who didn’t it had to be a nightmare. I know there were some casualties because of the extreme heat and I hope we never experience another heat dome again. That week broke all kinds of records for high temperatures.
Also, in December of 1996 we had the snow storm of the century, as it was called. Victoria got forty-eight inches of snow in forty eight hours. You want to talk about a city paralyzed, that’s exactly what happened here. Why? Because at the time Victoria only had one snowplow. “It never snows in Victoria. Where did you hear that?” Well, it did, big time, and I remember it oh, so well.
Vicky, the girls, and I were headed to a wedding over on Whidbey Island. It’s a fair size island which is part of the San Juan island group that belongs to the state of Washington and is just east of Vancouver Island. The ferry terminal was about an hours drive from where we lived at the time and on the way there it started to snow. Remember, this is December. Vicky advised that perhaps because of the weather forecast we should turn around as the snow began falling harder by the minute. Well, that’s what we should have done in hindsight, but me, not being all that bright sometimes, figured it wasn’t going to be that much of a problem. Plus, we had a hotel booked and the wedding was the son of good friends of ours. “Don’t worry, Vicky, trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Not really. Didn’t. Should have listened to my wife as we boarded the ferry in our 1988 Mercury Topaz (not the greatest vehicle in the snow, mind you) with our two daughters, Brittany and Alissa, ages eight and six. I like adventures and Vicky does too, but within reason and using common sense; something I’m not known for. We did manage to get to Whidbey Island, check into our hotel, and make it to the church where the wedding was that same day and located not too far from our hotel. The whole time these things were going on it was snowing and snowing hard and it didn’t stop, not once for two days. By the time it was all said and done there was four feet on the ground and even though we intended to go to Whidbey Island just for the night, by the time we got back to our hotel we were snowbound. Are we having fun yet? Every ferry, the Washington State Ferries and the B.C. Ferries stopped running and we weren’t going anywhere for quite a while. Yep, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” So, there we were, stuck in a hotel room for the next six days. That’s right, six days we were snowbound when we were only planning to go overnight. AND, the power was out. we had no TV, no cable, no nothing, including food. Let the good times roll! So, being a small hotel that was booked solid we made friends with other families who were also trapped. After a day and a half the power finally came back on and we got to view movies on the VCR in the lounge over, and over, and over…..and over. Gosh, how many times did I watch Braveheart! Lots, let me tell ya.
Food was an issue for a couple of days as the only food the hotel had was fruit, which is not a bad thing and we felt fortunate to have that. The snow was so deep you couldn’t trudge to the grocery store to get more food until day three. I have to say at this point, the hotel staff were incredible. They were snowed in like everyone else and they really stepped up to the plate to make everyone feel comfortable. People are amazing, in a good way, and those hotel staff were nothing short of angels. Anyway, on day three I went with the hotel manager to the grocery store which was only a couple of blocks away and we bought what we could carry (because we were walking) and made our way back to the hotel with treats and other necessities. If I remember correctly the roads finally got plowed on day four and we could drive our car to the store. That is, once we found our car in the hotel parking lot because all the vehicles were buried in the white stuff. We did manage to get our Topaz free, but it took some doing. Listening to a radio, we heard that the Washington State Ferries would be running again in a couple of days, but not the ferry which we came to Whidbey Island on. If we wanted to get back to Vancouver Island we were going to have drive to Oak Harbor at the south end of Whidbey, and roughly twenty-five miles from our hotel. We could then take the Washington state ferry to Port Townsend, Washington, drive across the Olympic Peninsula to Port Angles and catch the Black Ball Ferry there which goes to Victoria. So, the decision was made that that’s what we were going to do….and we did. It was touch and go getting to Port Angeles but we got on the ferry and sailed away to Vancouver Island. When we got to Victoria it was still a mess with only a few roads plowed. Slowly we made our way to the outskirts of the city where we had to go over the Malahat (a mountain pass) in order to get to our home in Shawnigan Lake. We were stopped at the base of the Malahat by RCMP officers who were only allowing people who lived up island to go over the mountain. It was pretty much just one lane and very nerve wracking as we headed north. We got within a block of our home before we decided to just park our car at the general store and walked the rest of the way. Our road, and the road to get to our road hadn’t been plowed and there was no way we were going to get to our driveway. It was so nice to get home and see our two dogs, Sparky and Cody. Yes, we had two dogs we left behind and our neighbor two doors down was going to look after them while we were gone, um, overnight. Obviously it didn’t go according to plan. Wayne, our neighbor, managed to clear a trail up to our front door in order to let the dogs out of the house so they could do their business. The dogs stayed inside most of the time while Wayne would go over to our house several times a day and let them in and out. They weren’t going to go anywhere, the snow was too deep. Anyway, we got home safe and sound and it was quite an adventure.
So, I think I was talking about spring. Yes, it’s late April and everything is in bloom. There’s no looking back now. Vicky has planted most everything she can plant in her garden and now it’s just wait until things ripen and bloom. Her garden is maybe forty feet by fifteen feet and fenced to keep the deer and critters out. The quantity of things she gets out of her garden amaze me. Last year she had tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, broccoli, peas, beans, pumpkins (two) garlic and a variety of herbs, rhubarb, onions, lettuce, spinach, and I know I’m missing something else. Point is, for a garden that size it sure does produce a lot.
Yesterday I took some pictures as I walked the grounds around Royal Roads University. I would love so share them with you.
OK, I hope you’re having a lovely spring as well, wherever you are. Here on Southern Vancouver Island our landscape at this time of year is spectacular and a sight to behold.
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