April 12th, 2004

by Eric 'Renderking' Fisk

From Winter to Spring

Easter is always the Official Start of spring, regardless of what the calendar says about the Vernal Equinox or the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. More so, it’s also the beginning of that time of year when we’re most likely to spend more time outside in search of the ideal trail, the top of the mountain, or exploring any new strange place where you’ve never been before: the equivalent to our own “Fortune and Glory”, our own Holy Grail, Shankara Stones or Ark of The Covenant.

Morning Anticipation

In the winter months, it’s harder to get out of bed. In my home, the five of us are all curled up together in a tangled mess of blankets, Dogs and people. Two parents lying on either side of the bed as the 1 and a half-year-old cuddles between the two of us and the “Wookie” Noel and “Wicket” Lizzy are spread out in all the empty spaces in-between. Everyone with two legs is dressed in layers as the cool crispness hangs over from the winter night air. The nights are long. The frigid darkness is only averted by the Christmas string lights that were hung shortly after Thanksgiving.

The mornings become more bearable in the final week of February then into March then finally April. Often, nature is lulling us into a false sense of security. Many times there’s at least one more major storm. Almost 8 years ago nature gave New England a greater surprise with a blizzard that dumped 2 feet or more of snow the night before April 1^st. Unless you’re an avid skier… the warmer weather is welcome despite of what surprises we suspect may be lurking behind the dark clouds.

It’s easier to get up in the morning. The air is closer to a manageable temperature. There isn’t the need to shiver and throw on extra layers just as you stumble out of bed. The crispness and almost metallic taste in the air is replaced by an organic moisture from the melting snow, and often there’s a light fog that rolls over the hills into the valleys. The ambiance is richer. There are more of nature’s sounds besides just the wind and the scraping of the snowplows on the paved streets. Coffee isn’t as much as a prerequisite, only to be consumed because of it’s taste and to lift the morning daze from our minds.

Regardless, the anticipation is more than some of us can stand in these New England states, as I’m sure it’s the same in other northern territories. While sports fans think of spring training for their favorite teams as they chant “This is the year.”, movie aficionados look forward to when the blockbuster season arrives. Hikers and campers desperately want to put away the heavy boots, jackets and snowshoes into the boxes they were stored in last year in exchange for tents, packs and cooler versions of their gear.

Ice Piles for Leaf Buds.

Outside, the blanket of snow gives way in patches, clinging to whatever ground it’s grip can maintain… but the snow loses the war raged by the warmer sun from above and the grass fighting for life below. As the grass grows from brown to green on the lawn, the larger piles of snow become darker as the stones and sand become exposed. Small lakes and tiny rivers come to life during the thaw, eroding the icy piles that gave them birth.

The trees that shed their leaves months earlier in a brilliance of hot and warm colors are renewed by the first buds that will grow into leaves that will soon horde the sunlight that had been scarce.

Spring cleaning for some means taking an inventory from the damage caused by the severe wind and ice storms, which seem less serious looking back on these warmer days. Sometimes it reveals Christmas decorations that had been lost in some of those intense blizzards and ice storms. A wreath half-uncovered lays there melancholy, reminding you of the Christmas past. In pensive reflection and contemplation I looked at it laying there… what do the holidays mean? A religious celebration or just marking the passage of time with those who are most dear?

The weather becomes more radical, clouds billow and the suspicion towards Mother Nature returns. There’s some relief when the slow drizzle of rain comes out of the sky, which continues the assault on the snow piles while contributing to the pockets of flooding in the yard and the driveways. It’s also welcome as it washes away the salt and sand and the layer of filth that covers everything from the roads to the cars.

The First Hike

Often times, the first hike of the year is a spontaneous one. The weather breaks and the sky clears causing the trails to beckon. It’s often a race to get the gear together… most of it is scattered between kitchen cabinets and closets. Like I said in the Sports Gene Rant… every year I make the same promises. I tell myself that I’ll start a fund to take advantage of the end of season sales next year… I always tell myself that I’ll put all the seasonal gear in it’s own box so I won’t have to race around at the last minute to find what I’m looking for. This never works out as well as it should; only some of the gear makes it into the right box.

The first hike is always on a whim. The mind wanders and actually listens to the trail that beckons. With what gear I can scrounge up such as water bottles- and if I’m lucky the map I used the last time is still in the Mark-7 bag from the last hike. But, often the spontaneous hikes are on trails that I’m familiar with or the trail head is the one that caught my attention just as it revealed itself after the foliage season last autumn.

The start of the first hike is always filled with anticipation and expectations, the first one of the season here in New England causes one to use caution… not knowing if the snow has completely melted by the second week of April. Regardless of the trail’s composition, it’s either still muddy or spongy at this time… the legs having to work extra hard to get through, ache with the atrophy of the colder months regardless of how often I’ve gone snow-shoeing.

There’s a crispness in the air that’s different than that of fall. The scents are different, and the air seems to be damper due to the melting snow and rain showers. I often wish that the air would be warmer, forgetting that with the hotter weather there will be flying parasites such as black-flies and mosquitoes. I should appreciate this coolness more then I do.

The Outdoor Gear Store Versus Antique Shops and Historical Museums.

Sometime in the early spring on a rainy day or on the way to or from a hike, many of us find our way to the outdoor sporting good shop… such as the stores like “Eastern Mountain Sports” or “REI”.

First, for someone like myself who uses IndyGear on a daily basis, the temptation to “go modern” is sometimes too much, all the new colors and materials are far too attractive not to consider retiring the traditional look. In someway I compromise with the shirts and pants in khaki in the new fabrics that are supposed to perform miracles such as drying on their own in an instant while remaining wrinkle and dirt free.

The section of the store that always draws my greatest attention is the book and map section. There are books on the region's trails and nature parks near the cabinet of topographical maps. Areas in the surrounding counties that I’ve always wanted to explore are all contained together there on paper: Bound, folded or in large sheets that need to be rolled. For people who explore or hike, it could be too easy to treat this place like a library and stay there for hours making notes about potential hiking trips in the future. Quickly you may realize that there are too many trails and not enough time to get to all of them before winter arrives again. This part of the store reminds me of when Jones was in the Tanis map room, in the secret entrance to The Temple of Doom, or in the Venice library looking for the proverbial X that marks the spot. Many times enigmatic areas are made clearer or new enigmas reveal themselves with a cryptic label or topographical abnormality in an area where there shouldn’t be any.

And speaking of time, there’s also the trip to the local antique store in the search for vintage maps of abandoned roads or towns in the area. It’s always a roll of the dice knowing that I might get sucked into looking at other items that I don’t need or can afford. Rarely, (but just one good find makes all the other fruitless search worth while…) you’ll find a map of the area that will lead you to a real gem. I’ve found maps that lead to logging roads and abandoned camps long before the turn of the 20^th century, mining shafts or short gauge rail road tunnels… as close to a lost civilization as I’m ever going to get.

Guaranteed, any historical society or local museum would have these maps on display, but it was only until digital photography have I been able to take photos of the maps while it’s still rare to get photocopies.

Luckily all these things can be done on rainy days, but it often makes inclement days worse because of generating anticipation for better weather.

The Raiders Connection

After this long cold winter with some of the coldest days in recent memory (if not on record) and spending too much time watching television after the release of the DVD’s of the Jones movies back in November, it about time to get out and actually do many of the things you’ve been inspired to do. For me, I’ve been pushing the line of what’s appropriate to do in these increasingly warmer days such as lawn work and lengthy hikes.

Spring is supposed to be a period of both natural and spiritual rebirth… a time for new growth. This is the time of the year to get the list of New Year’s Resolutions that you made back in January and actually put them to work and fulfill these promises to ourselves. This is perhaps the time of the year with the greatest sense of potential. These are the months when the treasures of the past are still unobscured by the foliage and the access to them are easier… in the summer months these areas might be overgrown and hidden by the leaves and other new growth.

This should be the time when we spend the most time in the wilderness. Depending on where you live, either the forests or the deserts – when the weather is just right. It’s the time of the year to start searching for your own "Fortune and Glory."

Have an opinion?  Want to ask questions, or comment on this week's rant?  Email Mr. Fisk him self: renderking@theindyexperience.com.