The official beginning of spring is only three weeks away and residents here in Osoyoos – and across all of British Columbia and most of Canada – can’t wait because this has been a long and nasty winter no matter which way you cut it.

We’re pretty much spoiled here in the beautiful South Okanagan as a “normal” winter usually consists of two, maybe three, weeks of cold weather and a smattering of snowstorms, usually early in the new year.

But that certainly hasn’t been the case over the winter of 2016-17 as the bad weather started early in late November and never really let up throughout December, January and February.

Many local residents who have lived in Osoyoos for an extended period of time have confirmed this has been the longest and harshest winter in many years and one of the most bitter in the last two decades.

But the good news is spring is just around the corner.

It can’t come soon enough.

During a normal late winter and early spring, members of the Osoyoos Golf Club would already have got in several rounds.

But with snow covering both 18-hole courses and plenty of frost caused by extended periods of cold weather, it’s highly unlikely local golfers will be playing the game they love until late March or early April.

That’s six or seven weeks later than normal as Osoyoos Golf Club traditionally opens in early or mid-February.

Meanwhile, the Osoyoos Coyotes will hopefully continue a red-hot regular season into an extended spring playoff run.

The Coyotes aren’t having much trouble, as expected, against the North Okanagan Knights and had the chance to sweep their best-of-seven series Tuesday night in Armstrong.

A victory in that series would pit them against the winner of the series between the Summerland Steam and Kelowna Chiefs, a series Summerland led 2-1 heading into game four on home ice Tuesday night.

A win by Summerland in that series would result in a rematch of last year’s division finals, where the heavily-favoured Coyotes were outplayed and eliminated by the upstart Steam.

After great results during the regular season, the Coyotes have been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs two years in a row and they are confident they can end that streak this year.

If the Coyotes do manage to squeak by Summerland or Kelowna, they would be heavy favourites to advance to the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League championship series for the first time in five years.

That would make this a spring to remember here in Osoyoos and we wish head coach and general manager Ken Law and his players nothing but good luck in their pursuit of a championship.

The long and cold winter has also meant many local seniors and snowbirds have spent much more time inside than they normally do.

With the arrival of March, here’s hoping Mother Nature quits being nasty and gives us some of the warm and wonderful spring weather we’ve all become accustomed to at this time of the year.

The bottom line is we’ve all suffered enough these past three months and it’s time to put away the shovels and winter jackets, break out the shorts and sandals, gardening tools and return to normal.

Enough is enough already.