spring?

A friend asked me to write about the spring in Russia. I touched on it last year in this post, but started mulling it over. How do Russians feel about the oncoming of spring? I'd say...skeptical.

Our winters are typically long and dark here in St. Petersburg. Last winter was mild and this winter was even milder. We don't have the frozen layer of snow (that reveals all sorts of unsavory things when it melts--litter, dead animals, feces...) this year. We might miss some of the gluey mud that adds an inch to your height with every step because there's less to melt. So, without the usual signs of spring, how will we know it's here?

If my Russian friends run true to form (and there's no reason to suspect they won't) we'll know spring has arrived when it's clearly SUMMER. Until then, until the grass is green, the lilacs are blooming and the days are becoming unbearably long, we'll just to see if spring arrives.

Really. That's the way it works. And, I guess it makes sense. Last Monday it was gorgeous--14C! It was sunny and everything in my flat got cleaned down to my curtains which were washed, ironed and re-hung. (Of course, it was Women's Day and the government always arranges nice weather for holidays. Well, they did during Soviet times. Since then, people have just looked back fondly on the times the government would implant the clouds with the proper secret-weather-stuff to ensure a nice day. I kid you not--this is believed.) Tuesday was nice in the afternoon--so nice second grade had no homework so they could play outside. Wednesday it snowed. It's still spitting snow. So...it's not mud season yet.

Ramble, ramble, ramble.

Did it help, S? No one is searching for crocus. No one is stepping lightly or doffing coats. (I was scolded for wearing my lightest coat to school. I had a hat, so they let me off with a warning.) I truly think that rejoicing in the oncoming of spring is viewed in much the same way smiling is. The common thought on smiling is, "What do you have to smile about?" The common thinking on spring is, "You never know. It might not last. It will probably snow again. I've heard it's supposed to get really cold next week."

Not a very happy, butterfly-filled post...the butterflies will be here in summer.