A friend of mine from Arkansas was visiting one winter/early spring. Took her to one local hotspot where we sourdoughs shake the cabin fever by dance, dance, dancing the night away. She overheard Jim talking about a "break-up" and remarked it was too bad he was having girlfriend troubles...I explained that break-up had a different significance in the Last Frontier:
Webster's Dictionary cites the above definition of break-up. The second portion of the above is the most appropriate: " to collapse or give way, to change suddenly". Our breakup is nature's melting process: snow and ice melt fairly rapidly - usually within several wks. anywhere from late March - April...even May some years! Many Alaskans would argue the point that breakup does not come quickly enough - after months of shoveling driveways, dodging potholes and darkness to/from work....When I was new to Alaska and still a
cheechatko (a newcomer to the ak), break up could be a little unsettling...the sound of ice "cracking" on a lake is frightening when you are boring a fishing hole with your trusty auger - once firm ice - now softened into a top layer of slush! Fortunately that slush covers another two feet of good ol' ice pack. It is amazing how quickly this, too, will disappear. You drive by Jewel Lake on your regular work commute and it is blanketed with its winter ice coat...then take your usual glance one afternoon and voila! the ice is just a memory!
One of my favorite break up activities is betting the Nenana Ice Classic/Breakup Lottery. It has been going on since 1917. A bunch of really smart folks in Nenana, (or maybe they were just bored out of their light deprived minds) - anyway, these sun starved hustlers got the idea to set a tripod up on the Tanana River come January. They set up the tripod, attached a rope and then tied the rope to a clock on the river bank. When the ice gives way sometime in April or May, the tripod falls down tripping the rope and this records the exact time the ice gave way! Last year, the ice let go on April 27 at 3:47 pm -Alaskan Time. 22 people split $303,272.00 - and that is no bullchitna (ak for BS - Chitna is a town on the Copper River).
Ok, the best part about breakup is it signals the end of winter and the beginning of ...no, not spring/summer - you guessed it construction season! (We only have two seasons winter and construction - whoever thought up gold stars on a field of blue for our state flag was way off...our standard/banner should have been those orange pennants the flaggers use).
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