Spring, for a bit

It was but days ago that North Carolina was bracing for a winter storm of goodly proportion. In Raleigh, where the proportion turned out to be an inch or two of a little snow and ice, grocery stores were cleared of milk and bread in an End-of-the-World scenario.

Been outside lately? In this area, temperatures approached, and some observers said passed, 70 degrees, quite a turn for the middle of January.

And the television meteorologists were not taking calls, as they did after that “blizzard,” complaining about their inability to operate with divine perfection. No, everybody — except perhaps those who work at ski resorts — likes a little early spring. This week, temperatures were forecast to be in the balmy 60s, with a shower here and there but lots of sunshine. Some folks had gone in the closets and dug out the walking shorts, if not the flip-flops.

Yes, our weather in our mountains-to-sea state can be a bit fickle and downright mysterious. But a break such as the recent one is rather like an extra day off, that Monday after a weekend when one rises to realize there’s no work until Tuesday.

So we’ll not look a gift spring in the mouth, and use the time to sit on the open porch or maybe even get out a bat and ball for a little early spring training.

Meanwhile, we wonder if in his inaugural address, President Donald Trump will say something about having made America warm again ...

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Spring, for a bit."