Resiliency of swans inspires reminder of reasons for hope

The power of yes is also the power of resiliency and getting through the darker times

All you need is love’ — in this month of February with Valentines, Family Day and Inn From the Cold fundraisers, we aspire that everyone has someone or something to love. We can lose sight of this among the onslaught of contagious negativity that predominates daily media and when faced with money and health issues, whether we will have a roof over our heads and food on the table.

Just within climate advocacy, I found it challenging in 2025 to stay positive among all the upheaval in policies and the cancel culture decisions — on both sides of the border —  and I wondered if I had to move to acceptance of a new less hopeful norm for the future.

It was the trumpeter swans and playful loons on the Severn River a couple of weekends ago in -22C to -39C temperatures that reminded me that I had lost some focus —  there is still love in nature and this small corner of the planet.

I wondered, as I watched in fascination at the 12 swans as they swam elegantly around the unfrozen patch of river, how they could possibly survive just even that one night —  in the wide open space, on ice and with the windchill. I heard a couple calling in the middle of the night and was saddened to think that I would wake up to find some hadn’t made it.

At 5 a.m., I dared to look out and could barely see through the mist that rose off the river — the water was warmer than the air, yet the swans were not there. I looked up and down. Where could they have all gone to stay warm if not in the river? I was wrong, at least then, to worry. I zoomed in more closely and caught the hint of movement in a mound of snow.

Then I realized, it wasn’t snow at all but the swans all tucked up into themselves, clearly sheltering their heads and necks from the cold into their feathered bodies. Twelve mounds of ‘snow’. Then I spied the loons popping up out of the water on their early morning fish ‘n' feed. A couple hours later with a beautiful sunrise, the snow-like swans slowly but surely lifted themselves up, stretched their willowy necks, and took to the water.

It was resilience personified. That is what has to be transferred to our individual and collective efforts to fight climate change. To be as resilient as those swans. To find a way through and offer a helping hand to those around us who are struggling with resiliency. Keep looking to the positive —  it's out there, and in leaps and bounds for the start of 2026.

Quiet signs can be seen of that positive shift, even now. Around the world, renewable energy continues to grow faster than expected, if not here, and major emitters are seeing emissions level off as cleaner power replaces coal oil and gas.

New global agreements to protect the high seas have finally come into force, safeguarding vast stretches of ocean for future generations, and the first international meeting on a transition away from fossil fuels is on the horizon.

Here at home, municipalities are steadily investing in sustainability and clean energy. In places like Newmarket and Aurora, climate plans, tree planting, electrification, and community action continue —  not loudly, not perfectly, but persistently. None of it makes daily headlines the way conflict does. But, like the swans along the Severn River, it is happening —  steady, tucked in against the cold, enduring.

Look beyond our borders to the bigger global picture of change, and then look closer in, to how hope can be found in the actions of local individuals and communities. The power of yes is also the power of resiliency and getting through the darker times.

Read this article on Newmarket Today.