(by Robin)
We have been here for more than a month and I have got so used to the cold and the snow that when I saw my first melting snow yesterday, I found it quite alarming. Ziggy did too. We were stopped at a traffic light and she started barking at something. The only thing to see was water dripping from a pile of ice and snow. It somehow seems wrong! And scary!
What is now just a little water here and there will soon be a deluge. We have been warned about this thing called the "breakup". There will be much mud and muck. In most of the world, it is called spring. They seem to have winter—a very, very long winter—followed by breakup, which lasts, in its more virulent form, about a month and is said to be very messy. The first melting of any snow heralds the beginning—so that was yesterday, March 24th. But it won't get really going, I hope, for a few weeks. For car wash operators, I am sure it is a wonderful period. For everyone else, not so much.
Then comes greenup. This is when, magically, everything turns from brown guck to green overnight. Or seemingly so. This generally happens in mid-May here in Fairbanks. By this point, the sun doesn't set until after 11:00, the average temps are in the mid-60s and summer is just days away...
More on break-up some other time...But just wanted you to know that we are on the cusp of some real changes. And the more I hear about the changes, the more I love the snow.
Should I bring my rubber rain boots?
ReplyDeleteLaura, I think we should wait until right before you come to give you the latest packing advice. It is probably pre-muck while you are here unless there is a big swing to warm temperatures...
ReplyDelete