As I sat in line for fifteen minutes for an automatic car wash, I keep my fingers crossed that this really the breakup. It probably isn’t …  too cold for it today and this weekend.  But I am ready for it to get it over with, even if it hasn’t started.

Breakup is the time of year where winter gives up the fight.  The name comes from the rivers and inlets.  The frozen rivers are growing from snow melt and the free flow underneath.  At some critical moment, the ice gets too thin to hold back the current and “breaks up”.  It’s watched for, celebrated, and like all good things bet on — the Nenana Ice Classic is proof, an annual pool where people bet on when a “tripod” (with four legs) set in the ice moves far enough to stop a clock.

On land, breakup is when all the snow melts, covers the roads and sidewalks with salty dirty water, then occasionally freezing to the streets right where you don’t notice it.  It makes a real mess of things.  We had 15 inches of snow cover in Mid-March before a big melt off, followed by 18 inches of snow falling, and by early this week we had 19 inches of snow cover still.  The last couple days, the warming trend is helping — I have the first grass peeking through the path where I take the pup out for his business.

That being said, the cold of the morning is pretty solid.  It took until after noon today to break past freezing and we can expect the same the next few days.  Breakup is supposed to start around here, maybe come along later, but how long it will take is still a question.

What I can tell you is I am ready to get through this mess.  Once the snow melts and the water drains, I can get into doing some real hiking.  I can enjoy my deck – now “decked out” with cool new furniture and a grill.  I can keep my car relatively clean.  I can move from being in winter to being in summer.

So hurry up and breakup with us, Winter.