What happens when the ice melts?

I am currently suffering through an incredible euphoria. Somehow, the weather here is so predictable that the school year calendar (standard at all Romanian universities) perfectly coincides with the weather. So as the new term starts this week, we're having sunshine all day and temperatures are creeping up - today it got up to 70 (Fahrenheit, of course).

Last week was the one week semester break, and included the following weather:

Monday: Freezing temperatures, overnight snow.
Tuesday: Snow all day.
Wednesday: mid 50s, melting snow dripping off of rooftops.
Thursday: mid 40s. Nothing special.
Friday: Cold but sunny.
Saturday: Cold but sunny, with rain at dusk. (Not cold enough to snow)
Sunday: mid 40s and sunny.
Monday: mid 50s and sunny.
Tuesday: 60s and sunny.
Wednesday: 70 and brilliantly warm sunshine all day.

I've heard that now that the days are getting longer, the good weather is here to stay. "This is the best time of the year," I was told today. Sweet...

So, what happens when the ice melts?
Feet jump into roller blades and roll through pot-holed sidewalks and empty lots of dirt. Bodies of all ages jump onto bikes and pedal on pedestrian streets. Old people and others lacking full mental capacity roam through lanes of busy traffic while horns honk and cars swerve around them. The cool kids come out to play. Young men don denim shorts while walking dogs. Old men go running in black spandex suits.

Somehow I find all of this incredibly invigorating - not the shorts or the spandex, but the people outside doing things. So even though the old people who stare at me are still staring the same way, I somehow smile back instead of getting frustrated. I think it's just because it's so much easier to be outside now! And I really do love being outside - this country is beautiful!. It's not freezing, my fingers won't fall off, I won't get bruises from falling down icy trails...these things are important.

So as much as I enjoyed skiing and watching the dirt and potholes get covered in the whitest snow, I'm stoked that the ice has decided to melt.

Now, the only problem is the brown trees on Mt. Tampa. When does spring turn green?