Last night the wind howled, the rain poured, and the frogs sang a chorus as we fell asleep. This morning we awoke to another cloudy, drippy day. And then, despite all predictions, as the day wore on, the clouds rolled away to reveal a sparkling blue sky. People came out of their houses and basked in the sunshine. I took the opportunity to wander around the neighborhood with my camera.

There were other critters about, like my friend Chris's cat Sancho, who thought it made perfect sense to rub against my leg while I was crouched down trying to get a close-up of some primroses. spring-2  I indulged him and stopped shooting to pet him until his attention was diverted by the barking of a neighbor's dog.

I stopped by a house some friends are fixing up and found this lovely camelia blooming in the yard. spring-4  And then I made my way home, where I spent the afternoon trying to capture the mood. Although the sun was out, there were some soft clouds and a gentle breeze. 

I just got the hummingbird feeders out this week and they were already clucking at me whenever I entered their feeding space. There was a quiet hum throughout the neighborhood - the distant sound of lawn mowers, the quiet conversation of walkers passing by. Cyclists spinning past the other side of the fence. Everyone was active, happy, taking advantage of this fleeting break from the rain.

As it cooled off I came inside to do a quick edit pass. 

My husband took at look at the last photo on this page and exclaimed, "Wow, I really like that background! Where did you get that?"

I laughed so hard I almost choked.

He meant, of course, the blue sky. That's how long it's been. No foolin'.

spring-5 spring-1 blue percallis