The spring melt

A consistent theme in my writing on here has been the winter I’ve been living through, the span of which coincided closely with the 100-day writing challenge I’m doing. I felt a distinct change in the feel of the season about a month ago, close to when the equinox actually occurred. We were still covered in snow, and would continue to get snow for a couple more weeks, but the days were getting longer and brighter, and along with the shift to daylight time, the feeling of spring was already on the way.

Now we’ve actually reached the point where the temperatures are finally overtaking the big backlog of snow to melt. With all the melt draining away, I’m hoping to go see the river sometime near its crest. Everything’s super wet right now, but it’s already getting easier, little by little, to get outside and do things.

As it gets warmer, my favorite thing is to notice the memories of past springs that come back. They’re activated by the particular feeling of the air on a given day, or by smells that get easier to detect in warmer air, especially that of water-logged earth.

During winter, with these physical memories unavailable, there are certain thoughts you just can’t think, until the spring comes and gently unblocks them. I think of the process as an “inner melt” that accompanies the exterior one. It’s a helpful reminder that you’re not always a unitary “complete self”, necessarily, but that there are aspects of your personality that move and flow with the seasons.

Winter is almost always something of an emotional battle in this climate. But I really do think it makes the arrival of spring feel that much more meaningful. I can’t imagine living somewhere where the seasons don’t really have distinct shapes, as pleasant as that might be.

What is the weather like where you live? When did the spring start for you? Do you notice memories or internal changes that follow with the seasons? Let me know your thoughts at my Ctrl-C email: gome ​@ ​ctrl-c.club.