Thursday, April 7, 2011

Spring?


Ah, Spring. At least it's supposed to be. According to the calendar. Mother Nature, however, has different plans. Last night I fell asleep listening to the Frog Choir outside my flat. This morning, I sensed a bit of a shiver in a few remaining singers - the temp was 36. It snowed in many parts of Puget Sound yesterday. It is April, right?

The Cherry trees are blooming. Tenacious wee blossoms cling to the branches despite pelting rain, sleet, hail, snow and winds that threaten to rip them from their perches. Their time is short, nevertheless. The saturated ground is green; pools of water dapple the depressions. Children deliberately walk through them, exaggerating their steps, slowly rolling heel to toe, to feel the cold water squish out of their now soaked socks and soggy sneakers. Feral cats lap the water keeping an eye on foolish birds that land nearby, listening for the worms that wriggle through the saturated soil.

Eventually the rains will leave, snows in the mountain passes will melt and more flowers will burst forth with their fragrant blooms. Summer will surprise us with more sun and warmth and we'll wonder when it will rain. But the rains will return bringing cooler temperatures, the leaves will, again, change to bright colors of Autumn, then winter will bring it's bag of tricks of ever changing weather, sometimes by minutes. And the cycle will begin again.

You can count on it.