The Paradox of April in Alaska

Judy took this picture of bees on crocus flowers on Monday, down at Chenega Bay in Southwest Prince William Sound. Almost has the feel of summer to it, eh?

But all around us, as the snow rapidly melts in the warming sunshine, the debris of winter is being uncovered: along roadsides, in median strips, in parking lots, in our own front and back yards. I don't have to take pictures of that. We all know what it looks like.

April is one of my favorite months here. It has been since my first full spring in Alaska, when my friend KC Condon and I bought the Swanee in Cordova, and worked on it in Banta's Boatyard, in the sunshine, melting snow and emerging piles of dog poop all around us. In early April, we were in our snow gear. By late April, we were working in our t-shirts. In Whittier, April was time to put everything back together around the harbor I ran for five years, or to take hunters out on bear hunting charters.

April is the transitional month in much of Alaska that March is in most of the rest of the USA. It is also the month that pulls many of us out of the winter blues or doldrums or funk. Yet I'm always glad when May arrives, with so many leaves, flowers and plants growing so rapidly, and the light returning all night.