Friday, February 6, 2009

A Hint of Spring?

I wouldn't have thought so this morning, because when I got up it was raining, pretty heavily, and the temp was just above freezing. Biking down to the stable to take care of Maroz had me reasonably bundled up, but the bike ride warmed me up and the rain had stopped, so I was feeling pretty good. Good became better because I ended up with no hat or gloves for the ride home - I was just too warm with them on! When I had cleaned up, had a quick bite and headed back out, I was amazed at the softness in the air. It was a feeling like the cold had been making a fist and today it got a cramp and just had to stretch and opened right up.

The softness could almost be considered warmth as the sun was out too and the temps were up to 9 C (50 F). What a change in one day! It really had me studying the ground, looking for the first crocus coming up, because that will mean that the Netherlands is about to explode with flowers everywhere, and that is really something to look forward to! I know I haven't been taking photos lately, it's just been so gray that I haven't had the urge, but when the flowers start, I will be sure to post LOTS of pictures. I've even seen daffodils growing in the middle of horse pastures, the flowers, especially those from bulbs, are prolific, to say the least.

Mike and I have a relaxed Friday evening scheduled, leftovers from our nice dinner last night - which was a success - and watching several episodes of House M.D. We are in Season II and still in the thrall of this show, so we are doing some marathon tv watching these winter evenings. Tomorrow will be a Leiden day, Mike loves rugby (played in university) and something called the "6 Nations Cup" (or something) starts tomorrow. We will meet up with a Canadian / Australian couple to watch two (groan) games and get caught up socially. For your information, I always offer to sit with my back to the television since I wouldn't want to take away from anyone who cares the experience of the game!

Let's just hope the weather continues soft and sweet for our ride up and back tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure we'll be packing our rain gear. Just in case.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are having a hint of spring also. It went from 15 F. yesterday to 56 F. today. Those changes help to drive out " cabin fever ".

Monica and Mike said...

Hi Patsy, doesn't it make a difference?! I think maybe it happens to remind us what it's like when winter is no longer around and we can go outside and revel in the creative processes of the earth again. Indeed, a way of banishing cabin fever!