April showers bring May, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, Hurricanes and whatever Mother Nature wants to unleash on humanity. The weather in the first days of spring has been exceptional in Toronto. There was a week where we saw record temperatures hit 30 degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Fahrenheit. A Cold Front from the Artic was forced southward as High pressure system coming from the Gulf of Mexico, caused it to snow in Arizona while Torontonians experienced a simulation of a summer day. The trees were budding and the Magnolia tree on my Fathers lot bloomed. Yet with this type of unseasonably expected weather come consequences. The buds on the fruit trees which bloomed are now at risk of not producing and the Magnolia petals fell prematurely. This is why at times people refer to me as Philip Magnoli “The flower without petals”. Unfortunately the most devastating consequence was what happened in my backyard over the weekend. Every morning I would hear the chirping of birds returning to mate. Our backyard accommodates many birds including Cardinals, Blue jays, Sparrows, Robbins and many more. This spring I would awake to a new sound, the jack- hammering of a Wood Pecker; I could hear it but I couldn’t see it. Then Saturday something hit our kitchen window with such a force that I thought it broke the glass. I found a beautiful bird stunned and bleeding, I picked it up and tried to nurse it, unfortunately I am not a vet and had to let nature take its course. I left it on the deck sheltered from predators hoping it would regain its senses and fly away. To my disappointment when I returned it had passed away. Personally I have a close bond with our feathered friends, so hoping it wasn’t an Omen of something forthcoming, I called the museum to see if they would have interest to display one of Gods amazing creations. It was a Northern Flicker; I iced it, packaged it and waited for the phone call. I received it today but to my chagrin my wife had disposed of it.  I hope when I pass she won’t be so quick to bury me? Sincerely-Philip Magnoli, my friends call me Don Filippo-The FX Specialist