Spring!

I'm not going to make any grand pronouncements about spring being here, because I know it could change its mind at any time (and indeed, they're promising snow for tomorrow), but let's say that spring has at least popped its head in to say hello. This week the snow from our blizzard finally melted enough for Vlad traffic to return to normal (that is, there are at least a few minutes every day without traffic jams). And yesterday it was so warm that there were people on the street other than me not wearing hats (Russians, for a cold-dwelling people, are surprisingly neurotic about keeping warm, especially keeping one's head warm). Today, for the first time in a very long time, I ditched my fur-lined (completely fur-lined, not just around the tops) Russian knee-high boots for tennis shoes and rediscovered how much faster I can walk without high heels, which was glorious. And it's sunny and breezy and bright out, and the melting snow makes steam rise from the sidewalks and the moisture in the air makes mists gather at the tops of the higher hills, and it just feels like spring! So in honor of the coming of spring, I've posted the third View from Vlad entry below, which I may have actually written a few weeks ago and forgotten to post (sorry).