It’s a quiet, damp spring here in the DC area. It rained last night and early this morning, tapering off just as I was starting to wake up. That’s one of my favorite ways to be greeted in the morning, the sound of raindrops gently tapping on the sidewalks and window panes.

For the first time in a week, my car is actually a metallic blue once again. It’s been a ruddy shade of green or even yellow with the amount of pollen covering it as of late, and my head actually feels a tiny bit clearer even though there’s still a lot of pollen in the air.

Even though it’s merely cool and not cold outside, I’ve broken out the tea and am enjoying sipping it out of a new mug—a gift from Matt during his stay. A good friend of mine has a ritual every Saturday morning involving meeting a friend first thing in the morning for coffee and the crossword puzzle at a favorite coffee shop. I love the idea of having that sort of regular stop in one’s life, that familiar like-clockwork get-together friends. I have that in a limited form; the Tuesday and Thursday night Pacers runs when I manage to get out there (something that’s been slack in 2007), the weekend long runs during marathon training season, or years ago my regular Monday or Friday night dinners with a group of friends.

For now, though, I can pretend it’s still part of winter and that means my mug of green tea that is slowly drank over the course of an hour while sitting at my desk. The mug may be knew, but everything else is comfortable and the way I like it.

It’s a really nice day. I wish they could all be this good.