What a wonderful week it has been. On Wednesday I actually smelled the spring in the air for the first time. I love the smell of spring. Earthy, sunny, full of life. The sun has been shining almost all week and the temperatures have been above zero (Celsius, that is) almost every day, quickly melting away the snow. It's just wonderful to watch and listen how spring is really coming.
There are birds singing, too. Suddenly there are so many voices out there, after a silent winter. Last evening I actually heard a bird that is quite typically a summer night singer. (I'm not very good at recognising birds, but I know this one - except for its name in English, heh.) It made me feel really happy. I was almost as thrilled when I heard a seagull earlier this week. As I live in a city by the sea, the returning seagulls are a sure sign (and sound) of summer coming.
I'm sure the winter has a few more tricks up its sleeve, but I don't mind. I know it's time for spring to win the competition. I love the springtime. It's always such a nice surprise after a long and dark winter. I don't think I'll ever get tired of the wonder of the days growing longer. It happens every year and every year it has to be marveled at: "Isn't it wonderfully light out there although it's already 6 p.m.?" Ahh, I'm a spring person.
There are, however, a few cons to balance all the pros of spring. The gravel on the streets, for example. It's no longer needed, because there isn't any ice, but not all the maintenance companies are very swift in sweeping it away. The maintenance company of our apartment buildings being one of them. Our neighboring houses have already cleaned up their parts of the pavement and parking lots, but it's still rittlerattle around my building. *sigh*
One other thing comes to mind when I sit here by the computer. My windows. Not the kind that I have in the computer, but the kind I can see through. Or I would, if I washed them... The bright spring sun just highlights all the dust and dirt that the windows have on them. I think I'll have to wait till the weather warms up yet a bit, before I start washing them, though. Until then I'm going to have to watch everything through a sheet of dust.
A definite pro of the spring is that I can't wait to get my bike out. Walking is fine, but I greatly prefer biking, if it's possible. During the winter it isn't, because I'm such a wuss. I simply don't dare to bike when the roads are icy, because I'm afraid of falling down. So spring means that eventually all the roads will be safe (or at least not icy anymore) and I'll be able to get to places quicker. "But you have a car", some might say. Sure, the old faithful has survived yet another winter (knock on wood), but I don't usually drive it to places I can go to by bike. Cheaper, more ecological and well, cheaper. :) But now that I mentioned the car, I have to keep in mind to wash it this weekend when I go to Nousiainen. The dirt on that poor vehicle, huh.
Well. It's just such a nice weather outside (+8 degrees and the brightest blue sky, whee!) that I won't waste a minute longer sitting inside. I'm going out for a long walk. I'll listen to the birds, smell the air, probably soak my shoes in the melting snow, but in any case I'll draw in every single ray of light. Maybe I'll even try to walk my face toward the sun all the time. I think I must've been a plant in a previous life... :)
Happy Easter, everyone.
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3 comments:
It's beginning to scent a lot like spring, I agree. But to me the scent of spring is actually a much more cityboy-kinda smell of doggiepoo and dry dust. It gets a bit difficult to breathe, your shoes get wet due to all that that melting snow that has no place to run because of overflowing creeks and the soil is still a bit frosty and can't really deal with all that liquid and - as you said - the groundkeepers and janitors have been replaced by overstaffed maintenance personel, that doesn't have enough time and motivation to keep the sidewalks and grounds slean etc.
But to this cityboy these "smells" are intoxicant; I hesitate to call it "love", but spring is definitely the other great time of the year in my book (the other one being autumn). What if the plants start to spread their pollen? I have meducin for that.
Scent, smell - the difference does seem to be a small one in the spring. At least this early on. It'll be a whole other ballpark when the there are some flowers and trees actually begin to have a green touch to them.
But I did have a great time walking around for about two hours yesterday. I managed to hop over all the bigger ponds of water and the not so wonderful doggiepoo surprises (the smell of which I never actually notice when walking by, probably because my nose is always a bit stuffy no matter what the season). Dry and clean shoes after almost 10 km of walking. Not a bad achievement, I'd say. :)
Oh, and nice to see you comment my blog, Jukkahoo. Didn't know you visited around here at all. :)
I totally second you on spring smells - I love it. Even if my first thought was also dog poo... But being an absolute spring person myself, the smell of thawing earth awakes so many memories and states of feelings. Like being a little kid again! Even if it takes a while before the actual summer, I can't wait to see everything start growing. The first green thing and the first singing blackbird help the process though.
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