Spring Thaw

There have been lots of changes in the area in the past few weeks as the days lengthen and temperatures warm up.

While seeing bald eagles has been a regular occurance all winter, I see fewer now. The migrating birds have been coming in droves, and today when I was out on the Spit there was a crew filming and picking up the sounds of the birds as they rested on the ice breakup.

Small planes are coming into the Homer Airport much more regularly now (2 and 4 seaters), filling the air with their horrendous sound pollution. The boatyard is hopping as crews get boats ready for the upcoming fishing season, and there are lots of boats being pulled down the road to be put in the water.

Just as in Michigan, road crews are pushing back the snowbanks to keep the roads from getting flooded, but despite that roads are often flooded in places. Frost heaves are obvious as cars swerve into the oncoming lane to avoid them or brake to a crawl. And traffic is getting heavy...which by Homer standards means I actually have to stop and wait more than 10 seconds for a car to go by at corners in town.

Like many places in the springtime, there's an excitement and energy in the air. People who have been grumpy all winter are smiling and cheery, and there is great anticipation for the upcoming season of light. If I stayed home and didn't go to town I wouldn't see as much sign of spring though, because up where we live there is still a few feet of snow and snowbanks over our heads. We get the best of both worlds: winter when we want it, or spring if we go to town. Locals say to expect snow until May 15 in Razdolna (the village where Doug's school is), though I suspect it will melt sooner here since we're at a slightly lower elevation.