Note: I posted an earlier version of this blog post on Romancing the Genres.
We’re at the third week of March, which is either the spring or fall season depending on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. Most people notice the seasons where they live. Even warm equatorial regions might have a wet season and dry season. But where I live in Southcentral Alaska, it’s a big deal. It’s temperate here, not like the Arctic north, but we still have a big difference between our warm and cold seasons.
Right now, we’re at the end of winter, almost at break up (so-called because the ice breaks up and melts). Break up is when mud puddles and muck cover the ground, and meltwater fills the streets. But it’s also an exciting time of year, as we all anticipate warmer times when we don’t have to shovel the driveway, scrape off the frost before we drive our vehicles, or bundle up to go outside—all those things we get tired of doing by the end of winter.
Spring is short here, just a few weeks long, but it is one of my favorite times of year. As the leaves grow on the birch trees, delicate spring green infuses the forests. Grass and shrubs grow again. Many of our migratory birds come back in spring. Energy seems to flow around us.
What do you have now in your part of the world? Or do you have a favorite season?