Quintessential Spring Day – Day #109

After the sleet – Photo: L. Weikel

Quintessential Spring Day

Today was a quintessential Spring day. When I first awoke, there was a weather warning on my phone letting me know that storms were expected and winds and precipitation could whip up unexpectedly. The possibility of this haphazard weather was expected to last until 9:00 p.m. So when I couldn’t fit a walk in before heading out to do some errands, I thought I’d missed the window of walking possibilities.

When I opened my eyes this morning, sunshine was shining in our bedroom windows. But as I permitted myself a languid start to my day, by the time I had dressed both myself and our bed, the sky was decidedly overcast. This day was dreary.

True to predictions, however, I drove north for about 25 minutes and suddenly saw blue sky open up before me, while massive – truly gargantuan – Cloud Beings meandered across the sky like Macy’s Day Parade balloons on steroids.

It was nevertheless a surprise to me when, heading south again, the slate gray clouds on the southern horizon suddenly started spitting countless slush balls at me. The slushy-sleet was coming down so fast and furious at one point that, had I pulled over, I probably could’ve made a snowman.

Spring Magic – Photo: L. Weikel

Two Hours Later

Two hours later, I arrived back home. The sleet had subsided for the moment and sunshine actually started beaming out from behind another set of impressive clouds traveling east. The wind was still whipping and the temperature was on the cold side, but the call was for even colder temperatures later. So we put the pups’ coats on and set out.

We rounded the first corner and didn’t it start to sleet again? This time it wasn’t slush-sleet; it was tiny pricks of ice sleet and buffeting winds. We hesitated. The pups shivered. Since we weren’t getting soaked, we kept on. Massive clouds pushed through and within just a few minutes we were glad we’d persisted and resisted the temptation to turn back.

About two thirds of the way around our circuit, we suddenly realized how utterly delightful it was out. Sunlight brilliantly glittered off pop-up roadside streams. We loosened our jackets and reveled in what I mentioned earlier was a quintessential Spring day. Mother Nature’s moods were mercurial and each facet held an element of wildness and passion.

Finally, an hour or so after our walk, I had to run another errand. What a gift it was to be out again, because otherwise I would’ve missed a spectacular sunset. Rays, reflections, and indescribably vibrant colors bombarded my senses one after another.

This day turned out wildly different than I expected in a myriad of ways – and I feel incredibly lucky to have witnessed so much of it.

Striated Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

(T+109)