Montreal’s great spring thaw is glorious.

I love this city around the clock, and there’s no denying summer is when Montreal outdoes itself in sexy razzle-dazzle. But I most love being here for the first signs of spring.

I suspect this thrill may be unique to winter cities. Those places that get buried under snow, grey skies and frigid weather for what always feels a little too long. I have lived in spots where seasons seem almost interchangeable. Those folks enjoy spring, too — but not like this. One needs the brutality and symbolic death of winter to be reborn every spring.

In Montreal, when April and May come along, it seems we collectively lose our minds a little. We spill out onto balconies and sidewalks to soak up the sun. We have brunch outside still in our coats. Some of us start wearing shorts even before all the snow is melted.

I love when those first buds appear on trees, and the hard earth is replaced with that first soft carpet of........

© Montreal Gazette