The sun shines.  The wind blows.  The last of the snow melts.  The puddles and swamps evaporate.

BLM issues burn permits.  Tire shops remove studded treads and replace them with summer tires before the May 15 deadline.  Load limits begin.

A winter's worth of trash appears along every road and moose trail.  On the first Saturday in May, the whole town turns out for clean-up day.  Starting at 8 a.m., men, women, and children fill up trash bags and set them at the side of the road.  At 2 p.m. the garbage trucks start picking up full bags.  Local businesses donate the bags and whatever else is needed to make clean-up day a success.

Children impatiently wait for the last day of school.  The University of Alaska Fairbanks graduates another class of students.

The first tour buses traverse the town.  Camera-studded tourists gawk at the sights.  Cyclists invade the bike paths while the snowmobiles are stowed for the summer.

Canadian geese will stop over at Creamer's Field on their flight north.  Sandhill cranes and many other birds can be seen in the Migratory Wildlife Refuge.  Nature trails dry out and hikers and birdwatchers enjoy the spring days.  Creamer's Dairy is rich with Fairbanks history.

On May 3 a couple of years ago, we had six inches of fresh snow.  This year on May 1, the rain turned into snow and accumulated a couple of inches on my deck.  The bare trees will be totally leafed in green by the end of the month.