Break-up

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In Alaska, the period between Winter and Spring is called "Break-Up." It comes from the fact that so much of Alaskan life revolves around the Ocean or Rivers, and as snow and ice "break-up" there is this odd time where it isn't quite spring as the temperature is still to cold, but the days are long and sunny and make us pine for the summer that will soon be here. The roads are wet, the snow is melting, the rivers are starting to flow, things are getting dirty and dingy and yet hints of green and spring abound.

What accompanies these physical events is a mood that settles over the people. It is a quiet anticipation for what is to come. Sometimes it feels as if it is frustration, almost a cabin fever. While other times it is smirk and a secretive laugh, it is as if we have all been the prisoners of old man winter and although he doesn't know it yet, we have been let in on the secret that the prison doors will be sprung open any day now and we will all be free. Don't get me wrong, we Alaskans love our winters, but "break-up" is a cathartic thing, it is releasing the winter, it is a joyous funeral for a friend that long outlived expectations – it is a loss, acceptance, and the moving on of our souls from one thing to another. Underneath all of this though is a restlessness. A restlessness that contains happiness, fear, expectation, joy, trepidation, confusion, anger, acceptance, and a myriad of other contradictory emotions. It is almost too much to bottle up under one skin. But we Alaskans go through this every year, and come a few months from now when the days never end, and the winter chill is a long forgotten memory, the endless summer is our only hope.

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accepting reality for what it is - real

As many of you know, although this blog focuses on Alaska, this post isn't about the weather. It is about another break-up, one that has been brewing longer than many realized. The mercury has been rising in this world for quite a while, although no one really thought to check the thermometer, because no one really thought winter would come to an end. The thing about break-up is that at some point you just have to accept it. No matter how big a fan you are of snowmachines, ice skating, skiing, or anything else... the snow will melt, and the best we can do is accept it and ready the fishing poles, boats, and camping gear. If we don't, we will be left snowshoeing in mud and skiing on rocks.

The thing about break-up in nature is that it occurs naturally. The heat is caused by the seasons, and summer will always come just as the sun will always rise. You can't fight it so the best you can hope for is to embrace it. Conversely, in social situations break-up occurs only when one "side" is so unwilling to accept reality that the force and pressure of their denial creates a "bursting" pressure on the social landscape. It forces events and people to act and react to things that never had to be. It is preventable, and yet once put into motion almost never stops.

So, when you see the cracks forming explaining that you see the ice melting, and the river starting to flow doesn't make you the cause it makes you a realist. Getting ready to ride the river tides wherever they may flow isn't to say that you are quitting winter, but accepting spring. Sometimes the transition isn't easy, and not everyone accepts it at the same time. Many a years do we find ice fisherman bravely (or stupidly?) sitting in puddles out on lakes getting in every last second of winter. Every break-up folks are caught skiing in areas they shouldn't only to be swept away by avalanches that were sure to occur, not because of their place but because of the time. Each spring you are sure to see a snowmachine traversing the battle worn trails only to find themselves in a muddle puddle and struggling through - a product not of stupidity but one of unwillingness.

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the ice will melt and the river will flow

So for those wondering - the cracks are forming. The ice is thinning. The springtime is coming. None of this is so, because of what I say – instead I simply am telling what I see and hear. Sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes months, and sometimes even decades - once in motion though it is hard to stop. Once the ice breaks and the river begins to flow I know not where it will take us. Maybe somewhere nice, and maybe somewhere not, I just know that the river will flow. If we choose to let it take us, who knows where we will go; we might not take it and might ride out the change, and if we take it we might even come back one day. Nothing about the changing of the seasons is certain but for one thing. Once you see the cracks forming... the ice will melt and the river will flow.