Dear Spring,

I am writing to you on the happy occasion of the 2013 vernal equinox, and I hope this letter finds you well. I imagine you are busy preparing for your imminent arrival in the UK…aren’t you? We seem to have been left off your itinerary in 2012, and though we waited eagerly to welcome you, we simply watched as winter faded into, well, winter. April came with its showers (and drizzle and downpours and gully-washers) and never actually left–flooded fields all around the village testify to that. There have been one or two rogue days of sunshine in the past eleven months, but never enough of them strung together to resemble anything like a shift to warmer seasons. I searched through more than 700 photos taken during what should have been spring 2012 (20 March-20 June) but alas could only find a single image containing both sunshine and subjects wearing anything less than two jumpers layered under a raincoat (see above). This photo was taken on 28 May, and I had to search a further 800 photos before I could find a “summer” photo that met the same criteria (that one was date stamped 19 August).

I see by the extended forecast that snow is predicted several days next week, so it’s clear you had no intention of arriving as scheduled today. That’s okay…I can understand wanting to be fashionably late. But in my etiquette book, anything later than 1 April is just plain rude. You stood us all up last year, so there are those who loudly proclaim their doubts about your current intentions. I continue to have faith in you though, and even believe that you will come bearing gifts of sunshine, blue skies, and warm temperatures to win back the love lost by last year’s unexcused absence.

Don’t let me down, Spring. This is my last opportunity to experience your pleasant nature on this side of the pond. I’d sure hate to have to go back to the US and perpetuate the ugly rumors that are floating around over there about the weather in the UK…

Sincerely yours,
Michelle