Dune (Part Two): Impending doom

Try not to think about it. Or maybe do?

I went to the river yesterday, not that there was much water there. Lots of kids and families out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather — officially 20.2 C, according to Environment Canada, shattering the old St. Patrick’s Day record of 13.3 C set in 1941, and the hottest since records started being kept, in 1912.

I saw a TikTok or Reel that I can’t find again with the caption “Canadians when it’s 15 C in March.” The video started with a woman opening her door to the sunshine with great joy, which quickly turned to a pensive anxiety with an emphasis on the “15 C in March.” That was me as I spent several hours exploring the extremely dry confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers, aware of the fact that there was even less water here than there was before the winter started and that we were already experiencing record drought when fall ended and we barely got enough snow to call what we just had “a winter” in the traditional sense. I know we had a few weeks of extreme cold and a few days where we had to shovel multiple times but I also went skateboarding on New Year’s Eve and I know that isn’t normal. And yes, it’s a La Nina year but also things are just hotter and drier on average than they used to be — that’s what everyone who studies these things keeps warning — so even if 20.2 C on March 17 isn’t going to be an every year thing it is going to be a more likely outcome year over year and more to the point so is the general hotter/dryer overall temperatures. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a problem that I can’t ever just fully enjoy a warm, sunny day without thinking about this but then I wonder if it’s more of a problem that I can enjoy a warm, sunny day despite thinking about this and knowing, in the back of my mind, what is going on here.

Anyways, it was a beautiful day/weekend and I spent a lot of outdoors, which feels great.

Even got out for some spring skiing which was very noisy:

Also caught some of Cinema CNC in it’s new space, which was fun!

News roundup:

• The Prince George Cougars had a weekend sweep which included the team setting a franchise record for wins, Riley Heidt moving into the franchise’s top ten all-time scorers and Zac Funk setting a regular season points record. In not-good news, rookie Hunter Laing left the ice on a stretcher Sunday night but is apparently doing OK. The team remains one point ahead of the Portland Winterhawks for first place in the division, with two games left for the Cougars and three left for the Winterhawks in the regular season.

• Prince George sets temperature records for Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures are then supposed to dip back down to seasonal.

• Prince George is getting funding for training sessions for people/organizations that want to help respond during emergency situations.

• Prince George group launching high-performance hockey training program to keep young kids playing close to home.

• If you’re on spring break (or just free in the evening this week) there’s not one but two stage shows to take in.

Today’s song:

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