3 posts tagged “ice”

Another sure sign of summer is when Alaska turns from beautiful to ugly.  We have months and months of absolutely beautiful, soft, pristine white snow.  Rolling hills and white expanses as far as the eye can see.  And it all looks perfect.  There is just something peaceful and inspiring about fresh, untouched snow.  When you wake up in the morning and see a new layer covering the ground and there isn't so much as a single footprint marring the view.  Yup, that is one of the few times I really appreciate snow.

As I said though, just before summer is when all that beauty vanishes.  The snow stops falling, and what remains is quickly covered in debris, dirt, road scum.  The ice turns brown, the ground softens and becomes muddy.  The mud splashes up and dirties the snow further.  What we are left with is jagged clumps of dirty, hardened ugliness that is more ice than snow.

Dirty ice.

We call this time of year "breakup".  It means exactly how it sounds;  the time of year when the evidence of winter is 'breaking up'.  It really is the filthiest time of the Alaskan year.  15 minutes of driving around and your car looks like a large brown rolling ball of filth.  Shoes have to be taken off outside the house.  Pants get stained up to the shin.  Forget about even taking your dog for a walk, unless you feel like giving him a bath each time.  We are at the very beginning stage of breakup, so this photo is actually pretty nice looking compared to what it will be a couple weeks from now.

You know what though, for all of that, this time of year still makes me happy.  Because as soon as I see the muck start to spread I know summer is well and truly on the way.  I can deal with the slop, knowing that I'll have a wonderful few months before I have to deal with winter again.  Bring on the summer baby, bring it on.