Spotting Signs of Spring
Crocus hunts, puddle jumping and more simple ways to usher in a new season
Look what’s out! Prairie crocuses are a sure sign of spring for us, thanks to our flower-loving mom who has taken us on many crocus hunts over the years.
These fuzzy purple wildflowers grow in numerous parks in Calgary, and they’re a harbinger of spring for many people. Our mom spotted these beauties early last week in Bowmont Park in northwest Calgary. Other popular places to spot these flowers include Nose Hill Park and Fish Creek Park.
What are your favourite signs of spring? Cailynn loves to mark the end of winter and start of spring with bear sightings — waiting eagerly for Boo, the grizzly who lives at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, to wake up, as well as Banff National Park’s first confirmed bear sighting of the spring (this year it came on March 27).
Annalise (who has still not embraced winter cycling after a big spill many years ago) returned to two-wheel travel this weekend after her usual winter hiatus. The river paths were busy! Biking is a sure sign of spring and a favourite activity for her — especially when it involves a brewery patio or a stop for Calgary’s best ice cream.
This is also both of our first spring times with toddlers, and we’re loving their enthusiasm for puddle jumping, looking for robins and running around on grass instead of snow. Watching how they notice and respond to the shifting of seasons has us slowing down and appreciating nature’s subtle changes in fresh ways.
And speaking of Bowmont Park, we’re hosting a May Mum Day Adventure in support of the Alberta Wilderness Association at Bowmont Park on May 5. Join us for a kid-free wander at 4:30 pm; head here for all the details. We’d love for you to join!
We recently published our first note on Substack Notes, and encourage you to join us there as well. We haven’t had much time to play around with this new feature yet, but have been told to think of it like the good ol’ days of Twitter, without Elon Musk or all the trolls. We’re certainly intrigued.
Notes is being billed as a new space on Substack for writers and their readers to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more.
Like our Substack group Chat, we’ll experiment using this feature to ask quick questions, share things we find interesting, converse, and pick your brain about future content.
Our first post on Notes asks the important and potentially life-changing question: What outdoor advice do you swear by? Please weigh in!
How to join
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Go Outside, you’ll automatically see our notes. Please like, reply, or share them around!
You can also share notes of your own — think thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes, etc. And, while you’re on the app, do check out our group chat.
Now enough with the online stuff. Get off your phone or computer and go soak in these precious first signs of spring!
