Green

We're having our late February/early March melt right now, which means things are especially ugly. Several months worth of salt, grime and gravel are eating the snow away at the sides of the road, leaving nasty black facings. During the day, snow melts now (rather than sublimating, as it seems to when it's colder) and then freezes on streets and sidewalks at night.

We usually get more snow through April, but what comes from now on is usually heavy, wet snow with the occasional freezing rain. It's way harder to shovel than the light, dry snow we get when it's most cold out.

But yesterday, I had cause to walk over to another area of campus, by the administrative fort. There's a protected area next to the fort, where the sun hits from midday through the afternoon, but where the wind is minimal and the snow seems not to fall as much. I think of it as the earliest place in town to get spring, so I made a point of walking by, and indeed, there are some crocus and daffodil buds breaking ground already. I also saw some dandelions greening up.

For me, winter here starts when it starts snowing, which can be late October or late November, or in between. This year was in between.

Winter lasts until it's warm enough, for me, into the 60s. So sometimes we have winter into May because it's in the 40s during the day, windy, cold, and miserable.

But things look better now, because I can at least walk by the green buds next to the fort.