Valdezeans are nothing if not optimistic. In the latter part of March, the slightest warming trend, just a hint of melting snow, and we start talking spring. It’s as if these vernal prompts reawaken a part of our brain rendered dormant with the onset of winter cold.
I know, I know. Every year we go through this same hope-gets-dashed scenario, and every year we do that contortionist maneuver of kicking ourselves for our willful self-deception. But it seems real this time, I mean, like really real. We can try arguing ourselves out of it, but when the balmy suggestion of spring bumps up against the frosty reality of winter, there’s no going back. So, in ascending order, here are five local indications of having been bitten by the “Feels Like an Early Spring” bug:
- We smile more. Like the gangly youth just surprise-kissed by his nerdy admirer, we go around town with a bit more spring in the step, gleam in the eye, and hope in the voice, which means we:
- Talk about it. We start planning outings, fishing trips, road excursions. We wonder aloud how thick the no-see-ums will be this year, or if the snowpack high up will shield us from mid-summer fire danger. Topics of conversation run from lures to salmon runs to hiking to kayaking. And did I mention we smile more?
- We shed the winter gear. Overnight we go from canvas duck coats, pac boots, and pullover caps to light jackets, ball caps and driving with the car windows down an inch or two. The more extreme among our number opt for shorts and sometimes open-toed sandals, but then they sometimes do that in December anyway, just because. Showoffs.
- We lose track of time. With increasing daylight steamrolling the retreating winter darkness, we focus less on the clock and more on our activities, absorbing the hours like a sea sponge. We start reverting into classic Alaska Time, which, in translation means, “I’ll get there when I get there.” While most employers remain stubbornly unsympathetic to this phenomenon, they can’t help falling into it themselves. Happily for employees, this means that even the boss is rarely at the workplace early enough catch a latecomer in the act. And, since the boss himself is not there, he is spared the usual plethora of inane questions by workers who should know the drill without having to ask. WIn-win.
- We stop sleeping.
Well, not completely, of course, but as daylight extends dramatically, interrupted sleep patterns become the norm. We begin to shed the sleeping-in habit we acquired in the winter. Every hour of early dawn gained becomes a finger pointed, chiding locals for still wanting their eight hours. Eventually, routine takes over and it becomes not too unusual to see Valdezeans out for a walk or bike ride in the broad daylight of four in the morning.
We could go into the return of the trumpeter swans at the 7-Mile pond, the sighting of the first bear, the appearance of a butterfly, the sudden preponderance of locals in lounge chairs sunning themselves in short-sleeve shirts…by why bother? We’ve already got the above five signs going full bore for the past week. So, it must be an early spring… right?
