Weather: We're not used to this
This has been a splendid sequence of days, and, climatologically, this is more like it.
So far, the skies have been clear for the first three days of May, and the forecast indicates two more are coming.
The blossoms are holding on tenaciously and magnificently, the lawns look lush and luxuriant, and the wildflowers have sprouted everywhere.
To what do we owe such good fortune? Actually, this is more like the way it's supposed to be.
"We forget what average is like," said Harold Sweetman, executive director of the Jenkins Arboretum, in Devon, Chester County, which is mining the side-effects of the atmosphere's good behavior.
"Everyone is saying this is so different," added Sweetman, who is that ultimate weather anomaly -- a human with an attention span. "This is average. This is normal."
He has a point, although in the interest of nitpicking we'll note that temperatures for the last two weeks actually have averaged a few degrees below normal in Philadelphia.
The coolness has been good for the blossoms, and perhaps in response to the lower temperatures the oak trees are 5 to 7 days behind in their annual reproductive frenzy.
If we fail to recognize normality when we see it, that's understandable. The late-April/early May period for the last four years has been anything but normal.
Last year, you may or may not recall, the first days of May were particularly gloomy; ditto 2011 and 2009. In 2010, May got off to quite a summery start.
This should be a weekend to savor; climatologically, not to mention logically, it won't last.