May flowers

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the lovely spring weather we'd been having in Conway. Some of my local friends felt I was sure to jinx it by mentioning a hope that it would continue for a little while.

Maybe they were right. Since then it's rained without ceasing. Arks are in various stages of construction all over town. Our rainfall total for the last two weeks has been nearly ten inches.

But in between the raindrops, the drenched landscape has had that almost fluorescent glow of spring. The sun, when it's been briefly visible, has outlined everything it touches with startling sharpness. On a day or two, the humidity has soared up into the upper register and given us a taste of what summer will bring. But yesterday, in between two huge thunderstorm systems, the wind scattered the moisture. It felt like kite-flying weather at the shore.

Earlier this week I spent some time in the library on campus. It was final exam time at my university, when time passes in different increments, and everything slows down suddenly and acquires an unfamiliar focus. When I walked out of the front doors of the library, I was hit with the scent of honeysuckle. Just for five seconds, the air tasted sweet and hot, like strolling past a backyard garden and sampling the mingled aromas. Then it was gone. A promise of summer, taking a vacation in the mild spring sunshine, heading home on the breeze.