Spring re-defined

Normally when I think of Spring, rain, green grass, flowers and trees starting to bud, and baby animals being born come to mind. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Spring was marked with a LOT of rain which meant many of my softball games were cancelled, which always made me sad.  I think the most dramatic Spring I ever experienced was when I lived overseas in Moldova in 1998. I would walk home on muddy uneven roads and there would be new baby goats, chicks and sheep all around me. The air was fresh with the promise of life and warmer days filled with sounds of sweet bleating and clucking. I was so happy to see the snow and slick icy spots that I would fall on melt away even though it meant dealing with mud!

Since moving to Alaska in 2007, my view of Spring has changed fairly drastically. Spring in my mind is now marked with beautiful, sunny, clear days where the snow is so bright, you have to squint or wear sunglasses. Cross-country skiing is at its very best in the Spring here and it's such a fun way to get exercise. The temps still hover around zero or a little below at night but warm up to a glorious 35 above zero in the day. Going out with just a vest or sweatshirt in the day is all I need and I gladly bid goodbye to my warm winter jacket and boots! 

I'm so happy I get to enjoy the next two weeks of glorious Spring here and then miss "break-up". For you non-Alaskans, break up is when the snow and ice melt and the rivers start flowing again.

Here's a good page for a description of it: http://www.alaskascenes.com/spring.html 

Break up tends to be fairly ugly...the gleaming white snow turns a dingy brown/gray as it melts. I will be on my trip to New Zealand and Australia almost the entire month of April so I'll be returning to a beautiful almost summer here! It will be Fall down under so I'm getting some great weather in the next few months! 

What's Spring like where you are?