Seasonal

People say that the wind can blow at seventy-five kilometers an hour at thirty-five degrees below Celsius during spring here in Canada. This is exactly how I experienced spring the first time I was here. Can you imagine that? Coming from a tropical country like the Philippines where the coolest temperature on average is 25 degree Celsius, I was shocked as it was freezing cold here. I took some good advice, adjusted and started to cope with the situation.

When it is spring in Canada, it is summer in the Philippines. The school is on academic break. This is also the time when people go to the swimming pools and beaches. In my younger years back home, I would spend a hot sunny day on the river with my friends. After this, we went to restaurants to eat Halo-halo, a popular dessert made of boiled sweet beans, sweet potato, coconut, and jackfruit with shaved ice and evaporated milk. There’s also the Saging con Yelo, made of banana cooked in brown sugar syrup served with ice cubes and milk. During this season, we also show respect to the Holy Week or “Mahal na Araw”. Some of the traditions of the Holy Week in the Philippines is the organized reading of religious texts or “pabasa” that can last all day or all night. The “Sinakulo” is the re-enactment of the last days of Christ that is played by the local actors and actresses in the area. On Good Friday, impressive events are organized where people are blindfolded and they beat themselves on their back with sharped objects that create wounds. This is to show the sacrifice of Jesus so that the human sins are forgiven. This hot summer ends in the month of May in which the rain starts to fall across the archipelago. There’s an old belief that if you drink the first rain of May, it can give you good health and it will heal any illness you may have. Heavy rain fall leads to flooding which is very common in the city. In the provinces, there are abundant trees that protect a place from such environmental disasters, but a typhoon can create damages to the affected area and even cost lives. Then comes June, with rain still pouring from time to time and the academic school year starts in the first week of this month. We Filipinos also celebrate our Declaration of Independence from Spain on the 12th of June.

Here in Saskatchewan, at the start of spring in March it is still cold and there is still some snowfall. What I like about spring in Canada is that the temperature gradually gets warmer. As the ice melts, everywhere you can watch the resurfacing of the grass. Grass, trees and plants look alive as they become green once again. Flowers bloom and the mornings shine.

Before coming to Canada, I was used to only two seasons, the wet season from June to December and the dry season from January to May. Here we have four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. I have lived in two different countries with two totally different climates that work in mysterious ways. This display of nature never really stops to amaze me. It is an act of God indeed.