Spring arrived in all its glory last weekend, and it was just the break a pandemic-weary Newmarket needed.
Temperatures soared well into the double-digits, there was barely a cloud in the sky all weekend, and everywhere there were people outside enjoying the sunshine after a winter spent physically distancing.
Kids with training wheels were learning to bike, girls were dancing to music in their yards, a father and son threw a football together on an empty residential street, and there was a noticeably large number of newborn babies being pushed around in strollers or posing for pictures with their parents.
Many people were out walking with their dogs, while one local couple was out walking their cat on a leash.
Amanda Columbus and Addison Welch got their cat, Zyra, at the very start of the pandemic and have spent the past year taking her places as an "adventure cat" and posting about it on the Instagram account @TheAdventuresOfZyra.
"It's beautiful out, I really hope it stays this way," said Columbus.
According to Columbus, they decided to make Zyra a social media "adventure cat" as a way to both give themselves something to do and to inject a little bit of levity into an otherwise stressful year. They have had the cat for almost exactly a year, with Saturday being Zyra's birthday.
"It was a really good way to share some positivity during the pandemic and to bring people together. There's a really big following on social media for adventure cats, and this month is Cats On a Leash Awareness month," said Columbus.
"Zyra loves it. She loves getting in the car and going through the drive-thru at Starbucks and Timmies. If she didn't want to be here, she wouldn't be. And if she ever gets scared of dogs or whatever, she just jumps inside her carrier."
Zyra's social media following isn't huge, but Columbus said there is great sense of community between people who enjoy adventure cats. Recently, when a kitten went missing in King Township, several followers from Instagram went there to help find it.
Zyra's owners were walking her on the Tom Taylor Trail, which proved to be a very popular destination this weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, there were hundreds of people walking, biking and skateboarding down the paved trail in Newmarket. So many people that at certain points, it was nearly impossible to keep two metres apart.
Similarly, the playgrounds along the trail were also packed, with lots of children playing on the equipment and parents standing around chatting.
On Sunday, a grass fire began on one portion of the trail.
