Dear April in North Carolina,

Please make up your mind. Winter. Spring. Winter. Pollen. Summer. Spring. Pollen. Winter. Extra thick pollen. Rain. Mud. Blooms. Sleet. Snow. More pollen.

Sincerely,
Me

I was talking with a friend on the phone yesterday. She lives in the mountains and was bemoaning the (seemingly) endless winter there. “I mean, I haven’t even seen a single dandelion yet!” She gasped later on in our conversation when she looked out the window and did in fact spy those yellow flowers poking up from the ground.

I love being back here for spring, but the weather of late has me agreeing more with T.S. Eliot than with Chaucer: April can be the cruelest month. There was definitely more cruelty than sweetness about the pouring rain, plunging temperatures, and wind on Saturday, when a few hundred runners, spectators, and volunteers gathered at Umstead State Park for the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run.

Friends and family sheltered by one of the aid stations waiting for their runners to pass by.

The creek flowing under the bridge rose in the pouring rain, covering gravel “islands” and tree stumps that just the day before had poked up over the top of the water.  Continue reading →