Tale of Two Days

This past weekend consisted of two very different days weatherwise: one on the wintry side, the other more like what you'd expect on a spring day.

My little sister rows for the University of Dayton freshman girls team. Dayton, Ohio that is. Saturday, she was scheduled to race on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ, a forty-five minute drive from here. My wife (a real sport at 8 months pregnant) and I drove up to watch my sister race. The forecast promised rain and a high temperature of 52 degrees...which was expected to be recorded before the sun came up. In reality, temps hovered in the low forties most of the day.

The weather, as you can see by the photos I took in the rowers' camp, made the spectators' conditions little different than those of the rowers: wet (though a bit more muddy).

Shivering rowers walked (or better, sloshed) back and forth between the tents and the staging areas, losing flip flops in the mud, dripping cold rain from their heads, and looking generally miserable. About an hour after we arrived, which was several hours after the start of the day's races, the schools finally decided to call it a day.

We never did see my sister race. It's too bad, because I had never attended a crew event before, and was curious to experience the scene. Being that my sister is only a freshman, I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities.

By the time we hopped back into our cars, some evidence of snow and sleet began sliding down our saturated windshields. Heater on and dry, the car's interior was a welcome refuge as we headed back to Delaware.



Sunday was another story entirely. Sunny, dry, and in the upper 50's. We took the opportunity to complete a few errands before heading to Elkton for the afternoon. Elkton, as you could tell from some of the photos I took last spring and summer, can be picturesque for much of the year. At this point early in the spring, the area is just shaking off the winter and starting to bloom.

Vivid colors dot the landscape here and there, and the bugs haven't made their appearance yet so we still have a ways to go before things really hit stride. But having endured even the short period of misery on Saturday, just a start was plenty enough.