Cherry Blossom Snowshowers
I almost sent my winter coat back to Chicago when a couple of American friends visited last week, but a Brit urged me to keep it here "at least through May." Now I know why.
Yesterday I had the fun of visiting Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire with several English friends. When I woke up that morning, I was delighted by the warm sunshine and balmy spring weather, and even opened the kitchen door wide so the gorgeous air could blow in as I sat in my pajamas eating cornflakes.
By the time I hopped on my bike to head to our meeting place one hour later, it had begun to rain, hard, and the temperature was dropping significantly. By the time we got to the zoo, the intermittent rain showers had turned into intermittent hail storms. The hail battered the tulips and daffodils as the giraffes and elephants headed inside. The penguins seemed happy outdoors, though!
This morning I woke up to snow on the ground, and as I pedaled my bike the familiar 2.5 miles to church, I passed lots of cars with snow on the windshields. Then snow began to blow around, but I soon realized the snow was mixing with delicate white petals flying from the blooming cherry trees. As I cycled back from church, snow was falling again and the cherry blossom petals were still swirling about.
Each morning I've been watching the apple and pear trees outside my window unfurl their leaves just a little bit more, and coaxing the ivy covering my 200-year-old house to burst forth once more. But yesterday when I got home, I walked around the yard telling all of the leaves and flowers to stay shut up just a few days more.
They say the winter weather (the wintriest we've had this year) will last until mid-week. *sigh* I was getting used to spring.
It really is true that, in England, you can experience all of the seasons in one day, as weather blows so quickly across this small island, and conditions can change almost instantly.
