Wiarton Willie had the last laugh this week as we experienced fool’s spring here in southern Ontario. That’ll teach us to depend on rodents for weather forecasts.
Welcome to the 154th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with fool’s spring, this week’s edition looks at a major renewable energy milestone in Europe, Canadian UFO sightings, and a German city’s fight against single-use takeout packaging.
On my mind this week: Fool’s spring strikes again
Earlier this week, we got some sad news out of Wiarton Ontario. Wiarton Willie, Ontario’s famous weather prognosticating rodent, passed away peacefully in his burrow on Tuesday morning.
Almost 6 weeks after Willie’s final prediction of an early spring, we saw signs this week that spring might be coming. But Willie was about to have the last laugh.
If the groundhog sees his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter on February 2, most people around here simply say, “Well. Duh!” Counting six weeks after Groundhog Day takes us to mid-March. If we get spring-like weather in mid-March in Ontario, that’s what we call early spring. And that’s what we got this week.
Sort of…
Signs of spring
By mid-week, the big piles of snow at the end of our driveway melted. We saw grass for the first time since November. Snowdrops appeared. Robins were happily singing in the trees. And I spotted five red winged blackbirds feasting at our feeder. I even got so bold as to go out for a walk without my winter coat and boots.
Alas, twasn’t spring at all. It was just fool’s spring, also known as false spring or sprinter.
Don’t take those winter tires off just yet. Spring was just teasing us this week. After that delightful spring thaw, this happened on Friday.
This nasty mid-March snowstorm was disheartening, but not unexpected. March in Ontario is always a roller coaster. Here’s what’s in store for the next few days.
I won’t pack away the boots and winter coats for a while. But the last few days have given me hope that spring will come…eventually.
Meanwhile, somewhere in groundhog heaven, Wiarton Willie is laughing hysterically that he fooled us one last time. That’ll teach us to depend on rodents for weather forecasts. Fool’s spring indeed!
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- The fool’s spring thaw meant we could fire up the barbecue and grill some steaks.
- I dropped a big box of decluttering proceeds off at the Thrift Store earlier in the week.
- On Wednesday, I visited my mum and we had a nice lunch together.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Major milestone for renewable energy in Europe
For the first time ever, renewable electricity sources in the European Union generated more electricity than fossil fuels in 2025. This proves that the right policies can drive real change.
(Source: The Carbon Almanac)
UFO sightings
Here’s a fun fact! In 2025, Canadians reported more than 1,000 UFO sightings. We’re not being taken over by aliens, though. Almost all of the sightings turned out to be planes, satellites, or stars. Upon investigation, about 3% of the sightings remained unexplained.
(Source: CTV News)
Tübingen 1 McDonald’s 0
In January 2022, the German city of Tübingen introduced a 50 cent charge for every piece of takeout food packaging, and a 20 cent charge for straws and disposable cutlery. The local McDonald’s franchisee fought the charge to Germany’s highest court which upheld Tübingen’s right to levy the charge.
Although the system isn’t a perfect solution, kudos to Tübingen and Germany for actively seeking solutions.
(Source: Reasons to be Cheerful)
Quote of the week
This week’s quote comes from Lucy Maud Montgomery. She’s right. Who knows how many more springs we’ll experience this year alone?
That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.
L.M. Montgomery
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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Fool’s Spring is a real thing in Colorado. 8+ inches of snow last weekend, 60F-70F temps all week with plants blooming, just got up this morning and our minor snow storm predicted for today (at 25F) already is leaving a good 4 inches with more coming over the next few hours, then guess what…near 85F for the rest of the week… I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced weather like this before!
It happens to us every year, Deb. I always say we get all 4 seasons in March, and sometimes April. We had a couple more inches of snow overnight last night, too.
Best giggle of the morning! Don’t depend on rodents for the forecast!
😜❤️😜
Groundhog Day is such a silly tradition. Even so, we can’t help ourselves and wait on February 2 to see what the groundhogs have to say. I was amazed this year to see how many different Groundhog Day mascots there are across North America. At least our Willie is a real groundhog. Some of them are just people in groundhog suits that remind me of those creepy knock-off characters at Times Square in New York City.
Take heart, my friend. Spring will come! Enjoy your Sunday! 🤗💚🦫
You, too Michelle! Thanks for the smiles this morning! Including the image of the creepy knock off characters… oh my, yes! 😜❤️😜