In Like a Lion

Admittedly, this is Alaska, so snow on the first day of spring isn't at all unusual, but the Anchorage Daily News reports that frost has gone so deep this year that fire hydrants are popping out of the ground. That is unusual. And a little unsettling. Hydrants are normally our friends, not projectiles. It's starting to look like this winter won't end until a lion and four English children show up.
The Municipality's snowplows were going through my route today, plowing up the ice on the streets and depositing angular chunks onto the sidewalks. One of the walkers in the neighborhood complained about how difficult the walking had become as a consequence. I agreed with her, "I don't want to sound like a raving nut," I began, but I don't think she believed me because of all the spittle and bulging eyes.