Spring of Light

One of the things I appreciate about my Russian lessons is that I learn a lot about culture other than just mere language.
 (Why am I still learning Russian you might ask? Well it's a stickler of a tough language to learn, some reports say it takes seven years to reach "fluency." Although I will scale my lessons back after this semester to less classes at a local private school and more general interaction in day to day Russian life.)

Like Australians, Russians count the seasons from the 1st of the month, while Canadians count it from the equinox or solstice.

My Russian teacher mentioned to me how much she likes Spring. I have always said that Spring is my favourite season. The Spring I have always liked in Australia is actually part three of Spring here. Part one is called "Spring of Light." I like this nomenclature, it highlights something that could be missed by the weather pessimist. Recently the days have been a lot brighter than in Winter. 

I noticed in Winter, that even on sunny days the sun would never reach very high in the sky. From an Australian perspective I would say it was stuck in a "morning arc" all day. (I could do some research and figure out the mathematical degrees of it all, but I will refrain for now.) The sun would never reach high enough in the sky to shine down from above. It felt like morning, morning, and the suddenly evening. Bearing in mind that there were seven hours of daylight in the middle of Winter, I guess this makes sense. Today there were 11 hrs 28 mins of sunlight, that's already a lot more than 7 hours.

So the light is here. Spring has struck in this sense.

Walking home from class I was enjoying the sun so much. I was also itching to get back into the forest with the skis on. I just stood there and stared into the sky. It was such a deep and rich shade of blue, almost ethereal. "Is this really planet earth?"  Even though the sun does "shine" in the depth of Winter, the light is so much softer. The brightness now is a joyful contrast. The birds have noticed the brightness and they are singing, another sign of Spring.

We have only had a few days above zero degrees so far. Personally I am still hoping for some more snow and subzero weather. But the days that are above zero cause melting to happen so quickly. The pessimist complains about this time of year. The optimist talks about enjoying the smell in the air.

The pessimist complains because the melting time means the city is covered in slush. I must admit that I don't like the slush. It requires dodging some rather large puddles and even rivers at times, when crossing roads. Today was a frozen day of about -7, yesterday was +5. So today any road that has not been cleared (and there are many) is covered in crunchy ice sheets. It's hard to walk or drive on, and causes immense damage to the roads. I marvel at the fact that on the days when melting happens, it would be so easy to clear the roads, and that much damage and cost could be avoided. So as the pessimist blames this slush period which can last from 4-6 weeks on Spring, I reconsider that this is unfair. Spring part two or "Spring of water" should also be a joyful time, the air begins to smell alive. The pessimist should not blame Spring for the slush but rather the road authorities.

We are about to enter Spring part two. I have enjoyed part one immensely. Part three, "Spring of flowers" is by far my favourite, but this will have to wait until May.