Grit, dust, melting snow – and lots of sunshine: It’s springtime in Alaska

Spring reveals its beauty slowly in Anchorage. As snow fades, it leaves grit and grime on all it touched and exposes the litter that had been hidden. This is the season when cars are coated in a dusty patina until their owners simply can't stand the dirty fingers that come from opening the doors. Cars kick dust into the air.

In April, as we wait for the landscape to green, vernal charms begin to emerge from the drippy ice too. We're uplifted when street sweepers make a pass near home. We swell with liberation the day we feel it's safe to leave the down jacket behind. Even in the backcountry, the snow's crust holds us up, reflecting warmth and inviting us to float above it on skis and bikes.

The calls of migratory geese and gulls are once again in the city soundscape. Plants started indoors begin to flower, and those outside poke out of the thawing ground.

The daylight is back and growing fast. One day we notice that, after 9 p.m., the sky is still bright. After some quick mental math, we revel in how many months are left until summer solstice. Fall equinox seems a lifetime away. Breakup is fleeting, we realize.

Time to set plans for summer in the 49th state. Time to find your sunglasses.

Anchorage Daily News photographers took a look around the city at what it means to be in Anchorage in April.