April showers

Okay, I am certifiably tired of all this rain. It turns out that even diehard Washingtonians are also tired of it! I saw this post on the Cliff Mass Weather Blog, and some people other than just me are saying they are really, really tired of it, too. Apparently this is also the state of affairs in Portland. From Cliff's blog post:

Portland has had its fifth wettest winter on record and the LATEST on record in getting to 60F. That is really the central problem: as long as we get a few warm spring days it is tolerable... this year there have been few warm intervals.

This is my fourth spring here in Bellingham, and it's also the first time that I've had such difficulty with the rain. It could have something to do with my recent travel to Florida (where it was warm and sunny most of the time) and the loss of friends and family as well. Who knows? I took this picture late last March, and I understand that this year the Tulip Festival, which began last Friday,  has posted on their website that huge fields of tulips will be on display for "most of April, but not right at the start of the festival." That is right now, with the tulips not beginning to bloom until later this week.

As you can see from the picture, it was raining the day we went to look at the tulips, but last year they were actually EARLY, with most of them gone by the end of the festival. Not this year. Right now I'm looking outside at the rain coming down and the temperature is in the low 40s (6 C) and a cold wind makes it feel even colder. Not exactly beautiful weather. A commenter on Cliff's post put a link to a graphic description of "The 4 Seasons of Seattle Weather" that gave me quite a laugh. It's almost accurate, too.

One good thing about sitting around in front of my computer is spending time with my blogging buddies. It's really true that I sometimes feel these friends are like virtual family. I may not have met them, but we know things about each other and learn things about the world that I would otherwise miss. Mel at Luna Secrets put a wonderful post up today about Eric Whitacre with a link to a video on TED telling the story of his virtual choir of 2,000 people. Each person sent him (via YouTube) a single voice to be added to the choir. It makes the most amazing song. It's not finished yet, but if you go to the website (either Mel's or TED's), you can listen to the first few minutes and hear all about it. TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design" and started out as a conference to disseminate information about ideas worth spreading. I discovered it a while back and forgot about it, until Mel sent out this inspiring video.

So, there are good things going on out there, I have to remember. The world is not all tsunamis, government shutdowns, war, and rumors of war. It's not always easy to remember until somebody reminds me of the incredible beauty we humans can create.
:-)