Thaw

After the two week spell of unusually cold weather, winter seems to be taking its last breaths for this season. I rode my bike through a few rain/snow showers this afternoon, but the ice in the canals has melted entirely, and most of the ice in the shallower park lakes was gone. Though there were some thin sheets of ice - and, for lack of a better term, pond scum - where birds walked, presumably looking for food. Or maybe getting out of the cold water.

The air temperature was still low, but joggers, cyclists, and families were out enjoying the sunlight in the Vondelpark, along with musicians. The music was good, and some of it was quite moving:

Note that this canal (below) is where I was walking with hundreds of others on the ice one week ago:

I'm not sure what these were about. There have been demonstrations over the past few months - perhaps they funded a flashing sign on a rooftop near the Rijks Museum:

The temperature and the lack of leaves might not say spring. But the sunlight and a feeling in the air did.