Between the snow and sun

Late winter in northern Michigan is on a hinge — the door between winter and spring swinging open and closed, the snow swinging between slushy, gross and beautifully fresh.

It’s a study in contradictions. Late February has a tension to it as we all wait for the first signs of spring. The sun stretches longer across the lakes, (if it shows up at all), and when it does, we rearrange our days around it.

We angle our faces toward it in parking lots, we stand on our front steps like house plants, we watch it hit the kitchen counter and convince ourselves it feels warmer than it actually is.