At last the weather has changed!  We’ve endured a cold spell for the past two weeks, making the climate seem oddly inadequate for late May. By contrast the 10-day forecast is predominantly sunny skies and seasonable temperatures 20°C and above. During my routine afternoon drive today in my little Cadillac XT4 along the Appleton Side Road I remarked the collection of skilfully harrowed fields awaiting the burst of summertime warmth before translating the barely perceptible greenery bumps to wavering corn stalks or other verdant growth.

My motor vehicle drive was not my first notice of the impending warmer weather. Immediately after arising and following the regular ablutions, as I entered the drawing room where I proposed to seat myself at my desk to consider the morning email, I could not but detect the unfamiliar waft of balmy air through the screened balcony door. It made me think I were better to remove my woollen cardigan and rely only upon the white short-sleeve shirt. But I dithered. I preferred to wait until I was riding my tricycle out-of-doors before making that decision. It proved to be a good choice because, when I did get on the trike after breakfast, the wind off the river still carried with it a bracing coolness. It echoed the remark of Gretta a moment earlier in the garage when she commented that like-minded people whom she knows have yet to put their launch or skiffs onto the river because it continues overflowing from the retarded spring run-off.  The river is a generous mirror affording not only a broad reflection but also an ample refrigeration of the southern breeze. I confess that I have frequently pondered the summer days when I can sport only a short-sleeve shirt, enjoying the hope of a well-earned tan upon my face, legs and bare arms (including the remaining white and topical wrist-watch oversight).

Meanwhile it is apparent along the shoreline of the river adjacent the manicured agricultural fields, that there has lately exploded a bountiful growth of shrubbery and rampant green vegetation demarcating all but the cultivated fields as a thick carpet of winding gardens and pathways. Across the river is a parade of tall leafy green trees announcing the impending summer days. The dry atmosphere is dutifully respondent, a mixture of streaky cumulonimbus and faint blue sky.