Springtime Blues

So I had this dream last night, and it was awesome. My mom was here (Imaginary Awesome #1) and she and my aunts were standing on the nice green grass in my backyard yelling for me at the back windows. I went to look and they were all in their swimming suits with towels wrapped around them, ready to lay out (Imaginary Awesome #2). "It's SO warm!" they were telling me, and I hurried down, magically in a swimming suit immediately, since this was a dream. I was intoxicated by the feel of the sun on my skin. "It IS warm!" I yelled happily. And we laid on the grass and soaked up the sunshine on our skin.

And then I woke up.

And remembered that it's March. And we still have 4 feet of snow on the ground. Not. Kidding.

I hated March last year, with a passion, and I don't expect any better this year. I thought I would really struggle with Alaskan winters, and I don't. The cold doesn't bother me, the darkness doesn't bother me. Honestly. But Alaskan springtime? It kicks my butt. It makes me sad. And it makes me homesick.

It's still so snowy, and it's still so LONG until the snow melts. So long. Spring break is just around the corner, but should just be called Winter Break, Part II. They shouldn't be allowed to call it spring break if you still have to wear full snow gear when you go outside. And scrape ice off your windows. Or, have your husband scrape the ice off your windows. Or ice skate on a fully frozen lake. That, my Alaskan friends, is NOT spring. You need some other name for this time of year. Calling it spring is false advertising. (Note: I keep typing falsa instead of false, like I think my fingers are used to typing salsa?)

In California, especially where we lived, spring is the best time of the year. Not too hot yet, but just right. You start BBQing for every meal since it seems like an actual, religious sin to be inside. You go out for a walk after dinner in bare feet, and curl your toes against the sidewalk, still warm from the day's earlier sunshine. It stays light late enough for everyone to take a little bike ride after dinner and before bed, and the whole time the temperature is perfect and the air just smells delicious. Like summer is right around the corner. You spend all the time in the world outside, letting your kids get their energy out as you soak up sunshine and read a magazine while trying not to be lulled to sleep by the comforting warmth. Well, more attentive parents probably don't do the falling asleep part. Or the reading the magazine part. But I definitely did, so that's what I miss.

Anyway, no real point here other than a pity party. We do love the experience we're having here, but it's just a different life, not a perfect one. There are still things that suck, and things I hate. And spring is one of them. I'm a girl who needs my sunshine, and I am not in the mood to wait three more months to get it. But I guess I have to. Good thing we have plane tickets already booked to come to California and Utah this summer. :)