Just When I Thought It Would Never End

The last day of school has come and gone. Dreams of swimming pools and lazy days in the afternoon sun dance in my head. But when I open my eyes and look out into my backyard, I see snow. It is melting- very, very slowly. The grass is brown and dry. The birch trees still swing naked branches. The reality is that I am enduring the longest winter of my life.

I knew moving to Fairbanks, Alaska would come with unique challenges. The biggest change that we knew we would have to make is getting acclimated to the environment. The first snowflakes began to fall in late September and they have remained until the end of May. We became accustomed to living in darkness, bracing ourselves against the stinging temperatures and learning to skate across parking lots. We anxiously anticipated each change, watching for just how far below zero we would see the scale drop.  It has been adventure.

When the days began to grow longer and the sun began to shine, my hopes filled for warmer days. But they didn't come. Mother Nature seduced me with rising temperatures only to have them plummet suddenly and fresh snow to blanket the ground. I have to admit that I have grown weary of this everlasting cold.

But, just when I thought it would never end, warmth appears on the horizon. On the last day of school, I was a silent observer watching kids enjoy the pleasures of summer. There was a picnic. The aroma of hot dogs on the grill wafted over volleyball games and flying frisbees. The cherry on the top had to be watching kids line up for a slip-n-slide right alongside a huge pile of snow. Yes, they were in their bathing suits and there was water involved.

The silver lining is that summer is on its way, even in Alaska winter does not last forever.