Spring is finally here

Spring

Spring is finally here or is it really summer we are already into to?

I must apologize for my absence in not writing. I think I was suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is a winter depression which affects millions of people every winter from September to April. It is due to the shorter hours of daylight and lack of sunlight in winter.

Well the winter appears to be finally over with our almost record breaking amounts of snow fall, risky driving conditions, numerous car accidents attributed to the driving conditions as a result of the snow either on the road and yet to be cleared or white out conditions while driving behind us.

In some areas on the north sides of roads and in the shade of trees or buildings you may still see the remnants of our snow accumulation but that is about it. Now what we are still recovering from is the damage to our roads which also affects our driving. I know of at least two people who damaged their cars from the same pot hole on Victoria Street between Whitby
and Ajax. Most of the potholes in the past week have been filled but you still encounter them in the private parking lots of some of the local businesses in Durham.

I went to the grocery store the other day and left by the back entrance to the lot and almost had my car fall into one of their holes yet to be filled in. Another person on foot was trying to maneuver a child being pulled in a wagon around the numerous pot holes at this entrance. This is not the only commercial lot yet to be looked after in the area. At least two I encountered this past week.

Try driving on the 401 at the moment with the filling in of pot holes and cracks made in the surface as a result of our winters, more challenges occur and safe driving habits must be enforced.

Another area we are always encountering after much snow has fallen from our winters is the fast melt, resulting in the eroding of roads even further and causing collapse in some cases. Do you remember recently we have heard of a few of these in the past month in Ontario?

Also this past winter due to the amount of snow on roofs we heard of roof collapses. Now what do we have to prepare ourselves for? Well we need to still worry about the high levels of water and the speed with which it flows in our creeks and rivers.

Our neighbour just to the east of us, Bellville recently declared a state of Emergency due to the flooding in their community. Next I will speak about what we should do when this happens to us and there is little to stop it from happening here. I tried to post a picture taken from my in-laws backyard in Oshawa.

They have a creek running through it which is beautiful but at times has caused them some concern. Unfortunately I was unable to post it. In past years this creek has overflowed in their backyard and that of the neigbours. I will speak about the causes and effects of flooding next time.