In the Midwest we experience a tug of war between winter and spring.  The roller coaster of temperature swings, along with the snow, ice, and thawing, keep us in a limbo between the seasons.  Just this past week we had enough snow melt that many things have become visible once again.  The warmth of the sun melted all the snow off our yellow chairs and even caused the snow to recede enough to expose some of the lawn, albeit brown.  The snow itself has lost its whiteness, instead looking pocked and littered.  We navigate large puddles and potholes during the day, and track carefully across those same items covered in ice during the night and early morning hours.  Soon (?) the tide will turn, and spring will win out.  In the meantime, we keep coats, gloves, boots and snow shovels close by.