Signs of Spring

Yes, seriously...here are a few reasons that I know spring is here despite the massive amounts of snow that remain (melting more and more everyday!):

First of all, there's Poisson d'avril:

In French this means April fish and it is the equivalent of April Fool's day. April 1st was a Tuesday this year, and therefore a regular school day. In the five minutes I had in my classroom before my students arrived I managed to:
1) turn a few of their desks around facing the back of the room. Most of them noticed but one went to nonchalantly put a book away and it fell to the floor because the closed front was where the open back usually is.
2) turned a painting of a fern upside-down. One by one during the day someone would spontaneously say "Hey the picture's upside-down." One of the extremely rare times when their inability to pay attention when their classmates speak paid off.
3) switched the drinking cups to the shelf where the bowls go and vice versa...this one was pretty effective and we haven't switched them back yet for some reason.
4) switched the chairs of the tallest student in the class and the smallest (who was away on a trip). This one was the best--she sat down with a thud and then, laughing, said "Hey Madaaaaame!"

The actual tradition of "poisson d'avril" involves making a fish out of paper and sticking it on someone's back without them noticing (often after having written a silly little "kick me" or "I pick my nose" type comment on it). It was a rainy day so recess was indoors and my students got pretty riled up by this particular activity, as you can imagine.


Otherwise, their jokes were along the lines of "look over there Madame, there's someone at the door...(pause while I obligingly look...), poisson d'avril!" Kind of like a "made-ya-look" gag. Found this info on a "geocites" webpage:

...dating back to the 16th century when Charles IX, following the Gregorian Calendar, decreed Jan 1st as New Year's Day, rather than April 1st, (Solstice). Those who didn't follow the new calendar were called "fools" and sent invitations to fake parties and the like. French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs--when discovered, the child (who taped the fish) cries

"Poisson d'avril!"

Why the connection to fish? Some believe that it's because the sun is leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces at this time. Some think it's because it was not permitted to fish at this time of the year. Others say it's because some fish are pretty dumb and easy to catch!"

Hmm don't know about that last reason...Bo says it's actually the most likely true explanation and that in French someone who is gullible is sometimes referred to as a "poisson."

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Secondly, asphalt. I never thought I'd be so happy just to see asphalt. It's been a long time my dirty gray friend. FYI, potholes in French are called nids de poule, which means "chicken nests" and is pronounced "needapool." Apparently Montreal is known for having lots of nids de poule and for not being so great about fixing them.

Thirdly, birds. Lots of them, they're springy and they sing. Except for the seagulls. They screech and they're garbage pickers.

Fourthly, flowers. Yesterday I saw little yellow crocuses, just like these, peeking out of the earth in a very sunny spot. I've also seen the beginnings of tulip leaves and other spring perennials fighting their way through the debris left behind by the snow melt.

Fifthly, water. Up until recently the only liquid water I had seen for quite a while was the water coming from a faucet or in a toilet bowl. All the rest of the water was in its frozen solid, slippery state. Now, there's water everywhere. Snow is melting, creating lakes, oops, I mean puddles, everywhere, dripping from awnings and rooftops, falling from the sky, and most importantly flowing down the river in front of chez nous (our balcony has no more snow on it--anyone want to stop by for a margarita?).

Finally, fashion. Today I wore shoes other than boots to work for the first time since November. It was wonderful! I even wore a skirt! (I strategically only wore skirts on the rare days when I had to take my car to school all winter long, otherwise...brrr.) The kids at school have switched from snow pants to rain pants to play in the snow, and they now sport rubber puddle boots instead of their big clunky snow boots. The colors are brighter too. I observed two different girls today that actually looked like little flowers.

No leaves in sight on any of the trees, but buds, lots of buds. Lots of spring still waiting to happen. I'll keep you posted.