Springing into summer
Durangoans get ready to come out of the cold

Lindsay Russell, left, and ‘Sloppy Wet’ stuff dry bags while Weslie Jackson inflates float bags in the bow at the 32nd Street put-in last weekend before an early-season canoe excursion down the Animas. With warmer than usual weather, locals’ fancies are turning to spring and all its inherent rituals./Photo by David Halterman

by Renee Johns

When growing up, everything in life seems to revolve around the act of anticipation – anticipating what Santa will bring for Christmas; anticipating the purchase of your first vehicle, anticipating what tales your report card will tell when it comes in the mail; and anticipating what that “casserole” consisting of every leftover in the fridge that your mother haphazardly threw together will taste like.

After all the proms, the first kisses, graduating from college and getting that first job, anticipation seems to wane with age. And pretty soon, life doesn’t seem as exciting as it does exhausting – anticipating taxes, anticipating paying the car off or anticipating that big gas bill. There is one time of year, however, that doesn’t seem to lose its luster with the passing of the years. Every year, like clockwork, it rolls around, perpetuating child-like excitement and giddy expectations. It’s spring time.

Even if failing to possess the foresight in career choice to pick a profession that allows for the coveted summer vacation, there is still something about this time of year that puts most people in an optimistic frame of mind. Closets and garages are picked through and organized. Gym memberships are renewed with zeal. Bikers sporting every color of the rainbow whiz by on county roads. Vacations are planned and sweaters tucked away in boxes. Whether it be on a personal level or that of a professional one, this season is chalk full of preparation.

But just because the initial “itch” is there doesn’t mean there is not a definite nervousness that can accompany all that optimism. For the female folk, this time of year also signifies the kick off of … dun, dun dun … bikini season. Jacqueline Green pulls eight-to-fivers as an advertising assistant and finds herself longingly looking out the window on a regular basis as outside temperatures start to break the 60-degree mark. “Winter can be so long in Colorado that by the time March hits, you are more then ready for the warmth and the sunshine of summer time,” Green says.

After a winter spent in pants and long-sleeves, re-introducing those “pasty whites” to the sun and the public can leave those of us without a Victoria’s Secret modeling contract feeling a bit, well, exposed. “I tell myself over and over that I should probably hit the gym so that my bikini and I can remain friends, but it rarely happens,” smiles

Green. “The worst is when I finally decide to drag out my summer clothing, hoping that winter didn’t hit me as hard as I initially thought, but it usually did. Not only do I curse myself for letting that happen, the unforgiving fluorescent lighting in changing rooms doesn’t do much to bolster my confidence.”

Green, a native of the Midwest, fondly remembers a time that indicated spring’s approach every year while growing up. “Every spring I used to help my dad get the boat de-winterized and ready to go out on the water,” she recalled. “This always symbolized the beginning of fun for me. Every year, we seemed to get it ready earlier and earlier … but the lakes would still be frozen over.”

Molly Myers handles marketing and guest relations at Colorado Trails Ranch, near Vallecito. For her, spring time isn’t necessarily used for mental bathing suit preparation but borders more on gearing up for the throngs of summer tourists who flock to the region and the ranch annually. Lots of Myers’ time is spent making sure that the ranch will have its best face forward with the arrival of the guests.

“There is a lot of mud to deal with after an entire winter,” Myers said. “Horses need to be brushed out, and we begin to ride the ‘fresh’ off of them before putting a guest atop their backs. Different projects that have been hidden by the snow are slowly revealed this time of year … everything from fence repair to repainting the stalls and the barns. We want to make sure everything looks as crisp and clean as possible when we open.”

Myers also jokingly adds that this is the time of year when the Christmas lights finally come down.

Nevertheless, Myers said her love for this time of year is not diminished by the fact that most of her preparations are professionally driven. “I consider spring a time of new beginnings and renewal,” she said. “I affiliate this time of year with nature just beginning to wake up after a six-month nap and baby animals are everywhere. It just smells different, clean.”

One of the biggest pluses of springtime that most Durangoans can agree upon is the warming of the river.

Thomas Petullo has been kayaking for about five years, and for him, the beginning of March signifies a waiting game for when the sun’s rays begin to take their toll on the year’s snowfall. “I snowboard, too, so it is simply a matter of judging which of these activities is going to be more of a good time,” Petullo indicates. “If the snow sucks because it’s been warm and there is too much sun, it’s really all the same to me because that means it’s time to head to the river to catch the run off.”

Petullo and some fellow die-hards scout the river first, making sure that enough of the rocks are covered. “For the whole month of March, I tend to keep both my board and my kayak on the rack just in case I decide on one or the other at the last minute,” Petullo smiles. “That’s what I call good planning.”

Green shares in the excitement of the river beginning to flow, although her preference tends toward the less extreme. “I am already getting excited while sitting near the river with friends, just waiting for it to be warm enough to throw a tube in,” says Green. “That is going to be the official start of it all for me.”

While it may be a couple more weeks before most locals think about braving the icy mountain run-off, the – uh – “sport” of tubing is most assuredly one of the activities that spells spring and summer to more then just a few people.

Whether or not you look forward to hot dogs and baseball games, camp outs and roasting marshmallows, flowers, rafting, hiking, The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, barbequing or just napping outside in a hammock, spring time is here.

So shove those translucent legs into a pair of khaki shorts and grab those sunglasses, sunscreen and flip flops. But please remember this is Colorado – bring along your snow pants, just in case. •

 

 

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