By Margaret Miller, a long-time Creston Valley resident
April in the Kootenays is a month of beauty, a month of promise and anticipation.
In the Creston Valley, the arrival of spring brings some welcome changes. Leaves and buds re-appear and loyal perennials push new shoots through the dark soil. Creston’s Wildlife Management Area becomes a flurry of wings and feathers and local conversations are smattered with words like seeds and manure. Bicycles and kayaks are dusted off, golfers limber up, and hikers re-visit their favourite trails and anticipate the retreat of snow from higher elevations. Yes, this month of rising temperatures and longer daylight hours is a marvellous tonic for the world weary among us.
April is a good time to observe some of the wildlife that relies on our valley for habitat. Most late afternoons, I’m fortunate to see a large number of elk grazing on the flats from my living room window. Even without binoculars, the herd of thirty or more is an impressive sight. Dark chests bold against yellowed grass and new growth. Wild animals moving calmly together towards the channels. The beauty of the herd.
Often during my dinnertime, three deer meander at the edge of the evergreens close to my home. I figure I’ve got it made – the pleasure of my own leafy salad while I watch hungry does nibble at tender shoots a mere stone’s throw away. It beats the brick apartment block I looked at from my dinner table before my move to rural Canada.
April sees more fluttering and wing flapping in the valley too. Steller’s jays strutting their stuff; bold black birds, busy robins focused on the important task of worm pulling. Even the noisy crows can be forgiven for their raucous treetop calls this month. It seems they need to celebrate spring’s arrival too.
Last week, a considerate pair of trumpeter swans put on quite a show for me and a few friends during our walk in the Wildlife Management Area. As five of us stood quietly and watched, the stately pair glided back and forth on the water, their large white chests reflected in the still pond. We felt privileged to witness such beauty. Swan therapy, Kootenay style.
And the frogs are back, their throaty chorus one of the last sounds I hear at night before heading off to bed. Another reminder that spring has sprung and that we can tap into nature’s restorative energy. A Google check revealed there is, in fact, an app for identifying frogs by their calls, their so-called “chirps, ribbits, peeps, whistles and croaks”. I shouldn’t be surprised; there seems to be an app for most things these days. But while this might appeal to some, I’m more than content to enjoy the night-time froggy chorus in blissful ignorance.
Easter was celebrated recently, another opportunity for joyful sharing. Special family time perhaps or a religious celebration of hope. Treasure hunts with the little ones - Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, and fluffy chicks – and shared meals gave us another opportunity to consider what we value and to be thankful.
In 2022, it’s easy to become pre-occupied by disturbing world events. War and propaganda, the ongoing pandemic. Severe weather events. Singer songwriter Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens, expressed this feeling in his 1970 and 2020 recordings of Wild World: “I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do/And it’s breakin’ my heart in two…”
As humans, we are sometimes forced to confront difficult news. We need to be resilient, both for our own well-being and for those who rely on us. We should pay heed to troubling world events and work towards positive change when we can. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves – and the younger generation – there is goodness and beauty in our world. And in Creston Valley, April is good time to do just that.
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