Spring has definitely not sprung

“Though April showers may come your way

They bring the flowers that bloom in May”

WB.G. De Sylva 1921

hen it comes to rain I’m more of a ditch-half-full kind of pessimist, unlike the lyricist B.G. De Sylva’s half-empty optimism. I do draw the line, however, at the hysterical ranting of the climate Jeremiahs out there even though they do have a point. After all, even in the tale of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the wolf did eventually show up.

I got to thinking about all this recently during the latest spate of freezing rain. Like most people I’m just a bit fed up with the cold damp weather that has taken up practically the entire first month of what is supposed to be “spring.” Then I remembered “the year without summer.”

To those of you unfamiliar with the phrase, let me explain. In the year 1816 summer never really arrived. For what ever reason - some scientists claim it was the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies - the climate remained on the decidedly cool side. A dry fog arrived in the north eastern United States and southern Canada in April, and stayed. Neither wind nor rain could disperse it. Gradually the fog turned redder and dimmed the sunlight, so much so that people could discern sun spots with the naked eye.

“So if it’s raining have no regrets Because it isn’t raining rain you know (It’s raining violets)

The results were nothing short of catastrophic. Temperatures were below freezing all of May. What crops farmers managed to plant refused to come up and those that did manage to break a shoot through the frozen earth withered and died. In July and August lake and river ice were reported as far south as north western Pennsylvania. In June, a foot of snow fell in upstate New York.

The cold in itself was manageable. After all, these people lived through a North American winter every year, but the effect on food production caused considerable hardship resulting in an increase in disease, malnutrition and, in some cases, starvation. It also gave birth to the usual end-of-the-earth scenarios, including, some say, the founding of the Mormon Church when Joseph Smith’s family was forced to leave Vermont and ended up in New York where he had his visions and found the gold tablets that explained it all. The shortage of animals – after all who could feed a horse – was also indirectly responsible for the invention of the bicycle when German inventor Karl Drais came up with the “laufmaschine” to solve transportation problems. It was a two wheeler but without pedals and propelled using your feet, sort of like Fred Flintstone.

“And where you see clouds upon the hills You soon will see crowds of daffodils”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we’re headed down the same road. After all, we haven’t had anything quite like Mount Tambora blowing its top this year but the signs are there. Unusually strong snow storms have been blasting through places that don’t normally see that sort of thing. Ice is melting in the North at an unprecedented pace. The water level is rising in some spots around the world while in others, like California and South Africa, things are getting decidedly dusty. And Donald Trump is President. On the other hand, DEAR EDITOR,

Amaybe De Sylva was right.

“So keep on looking for a blue bird And listening for his song Whenever April showers come along”

Unless he freezes to his perch.

fter reading David Suzuki’s article, “We’re Drowning in Seas of Plastic”, The Record April 6 2018, I am encouraged. I am encouraged to start boycotting water in plastic bottles, and plastic bags in stores.

SINCERELY JOHN SERJEANTSON

The Record welcomes your letters to the editor. Please limit your letters to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, legality and taste. Please ensure there is a phone number or email where you can be reached, to confirm authorship and current town/city of residence. Names will not be withheld but the address and phone number of the writer are not published, except by request.

Preference is given to writers from the Eastern Townships.