Alaska is closed
Ha!
I mean it SHOULD be closed. April is not pretty, in more ways than one. And I just think Alaska should close its doors until May.
The problem with this is that April is also so full of promise.
Longer days. The sun has warmth. Snow is melting away. And summer is tantalizingly close. So close.
AND SO FAR AWAY.
We’re wearing worn-out winter boots. That one glove we can still find. And a hat that is at once too much and not enough as the winter chill nips the tips of your ears. The furnace or woodstove is still pumping out heat. And that’s just in the morning.
By noon you’re turning off the heat. You’ve shed a layer. You might have a window propped open. The dogs, if you have them, are confused, can we be in, or out? But don’t worry the cat still believes it should be out. Always out, even in the deepest part of winter. Or at least OUR cat.
Mid-afternoon brings a slice of normalcy. The solar heat and the interior heating have come to an amicable agreement, the temperature can be tolerated. Maybe the doors are open. Dogs are out, cats are grumpy because they should be out but “it’s so cold!”
And by evening? The house is an iceblock but the sun is still out. You’re bundling up again. The heat is very much on.
Kids? Got ‘em? Well, you might but they’re probably feral this time of year, and I hope they spend every moment they can outside doing the things they spent the winter plotting. They’ve gone through every piece of dry clothing, the snowsuit is soggy, and the boots, if they still have them, are smelling peculiar. Forcing them into bed with the sun up is a side of extra hell that no parent deserves. EVER.
Between the first of April and the first of May, we’re about to experience an absolute collapse of winter. Rotten snow, icy slush puddles, the return of mud, dry leaves crumbling and being tracked in, pollen blooms, FLYING INSECTS (nope), daily revelations from the melting snow(Oh that’s where the dogs’ toys all went), the missing shovel will show up, the driveway widens out again. It is the most drastic month of seasonal change any human should live through, you start it in a snowsuit and end it in sandals, that’s the long and short of it.
Why ANYONE would travel here in April is beyond me.
Alaska should be closed in April but that’s me.
Mustn't forget about the smells of spring 😳🤢