Thaw

The best description of a spring thaw that I have read comes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and I think of it every year. I had thought the description came when Peter, Susan, Lucy and the Beavers met Father Christmas, but actually it is when Edmund and the White Witch are pursuing them. It is kind of more interesting this way, to see the signs of Aslan coming through the eyes of the evil characters rather than the good characters.

First Edmund describes how the sledge is harder and harder to drive, then he notices the noise:

"A strange, sweet, rustling, chattering noise - and yet not so strange, for he knew he'd heard it before - if only he could remember where! Then all at once he did remember. It was the noise of running water. All round them, though out of sight, there were streams chattering, murmuring, bubbling, splashing, and even (in the distance) roaring. And his heart gave a great leap (though he hardly knew why) when he realised that the frost was over."

And it goes on for a while longer, describing the appearance of patches of green in the white snow, the appearance of the trees from beneath the snow, and the arrival of early flowers. It is really quite lovely writing, very evocative of the joy in the arrival of spring.

My favorite sentence: "Unless you have looked at a world of snow for as long as Edmund had been looking at it, you will hardly be able to imagine what a relief those green patches were after the endless white."


That is how I am feeling now, as our snow is melting, green patches are appearing, and spring is around the corner. Oh, I know, it snowed two more inches last night, but it is spring snow!