Spring

[beige_alert]

Last weekend was warm but the ground was mostly snow covered. Now nearly all the snow and ice are gone.

I've put away the skis and snowshoes, which most likely won't be needed for some time. I was out briefly on the bicycle, making sure it's working properly. It will be nice to be back on the bicycle now that the ice is gone.

I always feel a mix of excitement and sadness when the seasons change. Spring always seems sadder than fall. If you divide the year into the two essential seasons of Ice and No Ice, the No Ice season is a lot longer and a lot more reliable. You know the ground won't be covered in snow in July here. January? There's likely to be snow sometime in January, but it happens when it happens. People organizing ski races have to schedule them in advance, but they don't always end up with skiable snow on the selected day. It's always a little sad to see the brief and intermittent season of winter sports end. Plus early spring is kind of ugly. Walking along the path by the river I saw the matted-down brown grass, muddy fields, leafless trees, and flooded areas. Last week it was all white snow everywhere. All the places I was snow shoeing though are now muddy and flooded. The streets are clear of ice but covered in broken glass, loose gravel, and general debris, which will take some time to gradually get pushed out of the way by traffic (if only some street cleaning could be done in spring).

Comments

[lisande.livejournal.com]

Funny. I always thought early spring to be a season of hope. When you look closely, you see tiny new buds on the trees, or flowers in a remote corner - you only need to really look, and you'll find something new.

Late fall, though, is depressing - here, the weather will turn to month of ugly, moist weather. The wonderful weeks of snow we had this year were a wonderful exception, but normally, it will be grey and ugly and chilly for at least four months.