Top 5 signs summer's on its way

One of the classic telltale signs of summer is the inaugural activity of putting the dock in the lake.

When you live the cottage life you come to know the dock as a sacred monument, a structural manifestation of summer itself. It signifies everything we love about the season from afternoon sun bathing to midnight star gazing. Oh, and cannon balls. Don’t forget the cannon balls.

Other than the dock, let's have a look at the top 5 signs that summer is on its way - canadian style...

5. You're sunbathing in the snow

Look, we’ve all been there. One of the first few days when snow isn’t covering everything you can see for miles, you raid your closet and whip out a pair of the shortest short shorts and flip flops.

If sunshine won’t arrive on its own, maybe you can beckon it by dressing like it never left. Worth a shot, right?

4. You’re willing to BBQ in 10 degree weather

A double digit temp is a dream come true, even if it’s still pretty low. A backyard BBQ with the neighbours sounds like a great idea until you’re sitting around eating grilled steaks that practically turned back to ice the second they hit the air and landed on your plate.

Will anybody admit defeat? Of course not. “Pass me another cold one!”, you shout through chattering teeth, wishing you made better life choices.

3. You become a chef ... for a day

Vitamin D is great but it does crazy things to you, like making you so gleeful that for a very brief period you begin channeling Gordon Ramsay.

When it starts to look like the weather might finally be catching up to your expectations, you get busy in the kitchen, baking cupcakes for friends and experimenting with fancy cocktails. Being an amateur cook, this will of course fizzle out - but enjoy it while it lasts!

2. The tiniest glimpse of sunshine justifies day drinking

The sky is blue. The wind isn’t knocking trees to the ground anymore. This can only mean one thing: it’s time for a few beers on the porch.

So what if it’s 9:00 am? And so what if it’s still a bit nippy? It’s 5:00 somewhere…..and wherever that is, it’s probably 35 degrees. Oh well, bottoms up!

1. You jump in the lake even though it’s like the north Atlantic

It all comes back to the dock, doesn’t it? It’s the definitive summertime marker and when you can feel Summer in your bones, you usually don’t care how frigid the water is; you’re going for it.

For all you polar bear dippers out there who take the plunge, bless you.

Just make sure your polar bear dip isn’t a ‘skinny dip’ until you can guarantee your bits won’t freeze off.