It is April in Saskatchewan and as we all know Mother Nature can be very unpredictable on the prairies. The old expression “if you don’t like the weather in Saskatchewan, just wait 10 minutes” is so true because you never know what we’ll get in a day or throughout the week.

That leads me to my predicament of what to do with the snow shovel. It looks nice outside, the temps have been good, but it is April after all and who knows what could happen. I’d hate to jinx this nice weather we’re experiencing by putting the snow shovel away. I’m a superstitious kind of guy and I just know the minute I put the shovel away for the season we’ll get one last dump of the white stuff. Just as an example, I put away all my winter parkas about two weeks ago and guess what happened? Yep! It turned very cold for April with overnight windchills of -21. As Homer Simpson would say, “D’OH!”

When is an acceptable time to put the shovel away? That’s the question of the day, which is especially hard to answer for us superstitious types. We’ve all seen seen rain, flurries, and miserable weather as late as May long weekend before, so perhaps I’ll keep the shovel outside until Canada Day. That’s a great way to celebrate national pride, by putting the snow shovel away! I know the weather is not dependent on when we put our shovels away but the coincidence is too funny not to joke about. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sunshine!