Winter is coming - or is it? On one hand it has been quite pleasant not to walk in between classes, to the supermarket or to anywhere around Baltimore when it's actually freezing.
On the other hand, when it has been just on the colder side of "normal," then it feels like it's freezing.
This week especially has been weird.
Over the weekend, I regretted not spending a good amount of time outside, but, by the time I was walking outside of my Tuesday afternoon class, I was freezing. Krieger 205's unusual chilliness may have made things worse, but it still was not a pleasant day.
Did anyone else notice the few minutes of sporadic snow on Monday?
Then there's today (Thursday, depending on when you are reading this), a tad windy but otherwise really-warm-for-early-March (or so it was forecasted when I actually wrote this). If you were hibernating for the "winter" you would think it was already April or May until you looked at the calendar.
The birds are certainly confused: I heard way too much chirping outside of the Interfaith Center last week and none on Monday evening when I passed by the same spot.
Who else is "confused" by all of this?
Well, if you have followed the news. you may have heard about trees and plants in various parts of the country blooming prematurely. I personally haven't seen much plant activity along my regular routes, but soon they will start flowering and the pollen will follow shortly.
That's unfortunately going to make for a miserable spring, as pollen counts from plants flowering during the spring are expected to set new records this year.
Even if you never suffered from seasonal allergies before, this might be a first if last year was not bad enough already.
The one possibly positive side to this early spring is the annual blooming of the cherry blossoms down in Washington D.C., which is expected to peak during the last week of March, a bit early compared to the usual average of April 4.
Obviously this doesn't impact the annual festival that accompanies the bloom, which lasts five weeks starting on March 20th.
While I really should be speaking only for myself, this is one event you should check out before you move on with your life after Hopkins.
There's certainly a whole lot to enjoy during the festival, which includes food vendors, entertainment and a parade on April 15.
Plus, the trees are celebrating their centennial; the original 3000 trees were introduced in 1912 - with the first two Yoshino cherry trees, still standing to this day, planted by Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda.
Even if you can't make it down to D.C. to enjoy the blossoms, just try to make an effort to be outside in Baltimore over the next few weeks, especially before we hit the peak of the pollen counts. Spend some time sunbathing on the Beach or on Wyman Quad. Study outside. Toss a frisbee around.
The only thing worse than sneezing and severe sinuses from colds are the same symptoms from spring allergies.
