Spring is in the air

Another winter on it's way out. It's amazing how quickly the seasons change up here. I remember times visiting countries nearer to the Equator, and being rather shocked about how quickly things transformed from day to night. In NZ we had a thing called twilight, and it lasted for an hour or so. But that's beside the point. Sort of. Up here in the north of Sweden, there seems to be a lacking of seasonal twilight. One day it's winter, the next day it's spring. One Sunday morning it was -34 degrees when I got up. The next Sunday it was +2 deg. Hello springtime. Instead of being pretty much dark during the day, and definitely dark by 2pm, there's now clear signs of light already at 6am. And almost 12 hours of daylight. Now, for some macabre reason, I've always liked being out in the dark. Don't ask me why, I just do. So I'm not one of those soft southerers who grizzle and moan about having dark winters. But, there's something nice about the early morning sun as the days get warmer. The big downside to the sudden arrival of spring, is the instant thaw. Well, sort of instant. The roads are pretty much clear of snow and ice now. As are the footpaths. Says he who went arse over breakfast on the footpath outside yesterday for the first time in 2 years. But that's a story for another day. It's nice not to have the car spinning away from every intersection. Even with studded tyres. The problem is that all this ice and snow has to go somewhere. And it ain't going nowhere until the 1m deep level of frozen ground underneath it has thawed out. So I'm preparing myself for the annual spectacle of soggy lake filled paddocks for the next couple of months. Not the best time of year to come here, for those of you contemplating. I've decided that I need a new jacket before next autumn. I've got a couple of summer jackets, and my kick arse Fjäll Räven winter coat, but nothing that's really suitable between -5 and -15 deg. Which is from about late September through until Christmas. I've got a bit of a short list, so I might have to start doing a bit of scouting around in the hope for an elusive bargain.