sunny skies

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As most Canadians have probably noticed in the last week or two, spring seems to have arrived. Key words being "seems to". According to Environment Canada, its been the warmest and driest winter on record for Canada. Its only the second week of March and I'm already considering pulling out my flip flops. Basically, I'm in heaven.

And with this warm bliss comes a handful of worries. Because -- as many Canadians know -- nothing in our weather system ever remains stable for long. Especially not in Atlantic Canada. So while I'm hopeful that the sun will continue, I'm prepared to pull out my rain boots and umbrella at a moments notice.

Fine, let it rain. Let it pour. But, please, God, let is stop by May. Otherwise, I will have a severe panic attack as the wedding day approaches. No, I'm not one of those brides who will freak out and lose all hope in life if I wake up on the day of our wedding day and see rain. But last year, it took so long for the ground at the cottage to try up that even by July, the ground was still a muddy mess. There's large parts of the lawn that don't get exposed to sunshine for more than 2 or 3 hours a day and with constant rain, those parts never really got a chance to dry out. So the ground was squishy. Mega-squishy. Had-to-walk-over-wooden-boards-to-get-to-the-beach-so-we-wouldn't-slip-and-fall-in-the-mud kind of squishy. Not an idea situation for the wedding day. Not at all.

And while I know I took that risk by having the wedding at the cottage so -- as my aunt has so kindly pointed out to me -- I'll get what's coming to me if this happens again, I have high hopes. In the 22 years I have been going to the cottage, last year was the first. And I think it's mainly because there was so little time between the snow drying up and the rain beginning that caused this conundrum. Plus, even if it does happen again, I'll do my best not to be put out. We've already planned to have the reception tent placed on a piece of ground that is stable and far away from the squishy parts. But our ideal location for the ceremony will be lost in the mud if there's too much rain. And while there's plenty of other places to set up the ceremony, it's not going to be our favorite place on the grounds of the cottage if the mud takes over.

In addition to that, I'm slightly worried about rain on the day of the wedding. While it's supposed to be good luck and make for some awesome photo-ops, I have no desire to have rain. Mainly because rain might be good luck, but wet wedding guests are not. And with a tented reception, a mega-rainstorm could cause some problems.

So, I've been praying constantly that there won't be rain. I've already got a deal with the Man upstairs, but just in case that doesn't pan out, I've come up with some alternative sources of comfort:

• Historically, it hasn't rained on our wedding day for the past 4 years. You can check out any date in any city on the Weather Network's website here.

• If you check out today's post on This Little Journey, there's an Irish tradition that's supposed to help prevent rain with a little help from the Child of Prague.

• Apparently, rosary beads -- either in the bushes, or hung on a clothesline -- the morning of the wedding should put a stop to any rain.

• Brooms in trees. I have no idea why. But apparently, placing a ton of brooms in trees the night before the wedding will help you out.
  

• If all else fails, revert to some witchcraft and cast a spell. Learn how here.

Finally, you can be pro-active by predicting whether or not rain is on the way by watching the cows. According to some, if cows are laying down in their fields, its going to rain.

Okay, do I genuinely believe in any of this? Other than the historical statistics of the Weather Network, no.

But if I need to bury a small statue, hang out rosary beads, and put brooms in trees to calm my nerves, I'll do it. I mean, witchcraft, probably not. But I like cows. I'm sure I'll be able to spare some time before the wedding to scientifically observe the movement patterns of cows. Just in case.