Sunny Friday...

...is not just the day when the sun shone for the royal wedding but yeah, it's a blessing for us all. After a week of cloudy, rainy weather we're all glad it's bright and sunny this morning. I woke up and stepped into the hall to be welcomed by a gentle stream of light through the blinds on our windows. Love having such huge windows.

We can look down and see activity in the brewery kitchens. This early, the kitchen is still busy prepping up for the day. Last night, they'd had a guy strumming  a guitar and singing, tonight will be a steady stream of Pop. Pop will also go our bottles - wine or otherwise - and a low-budget bubbly called Diet Coke as soon as we can make out sunlight's dimmed a bit, at least enough to shut the blinds and not let the world know you've been starving all week for a tall, cold drink!

I feel like walking around, it's that sunny. Enough to rouse me out to roam the gardens, try to aim for an early visit to Au Bon Pain and if not then just wander around, come to the grocer's to buy Lime Flavoured DC and head back indoors to shut the blinds and... Let The Weekend Begin!!

Cheers! The menu will be leftovers, pepperoni pizza, sushi and whatever else goes or doesnt go with it. What are you having - a commemorative fish chip dinner (a nod to the Brit royals) or something to welcome two solid holidays with???

Spring into Summer...

It rained last weekend and today, as I see sunshine peeping through the gaps in the blinds, I can believe that we're finally touching the summer season. I didnt know spring was rain and unpredictable freezing winds: I'd pictured it more like a Disney cartoon where rosebuds would bloom and the sun would shine gently over slightly dewed grass...flowering meadows et al. I couldnt believe the freak flurries of snow and the icy winds in April, when my hometown was sweating it out. Mumbai starts heating up in March, all of which seems a thousand years away as I peep through the windows to see whether people are all wrapped up and checking the weather forecast for every hour before leaving the house.

Last Sunday was a study in contrasts. Easter Sunday morning was sunny like the top of a fried egg, all white clouds and yellow sun against a blue sky. Afternoon, it turned cloudy when we returned back with groceries and some birthday gifts for the party next weekend. Evening, when we trudged out for a walk, it started raining. We stepped out under the cover of umbrellas but it wasnt the kind of rain Mumbai people expect. It drizzled lightly and we hardly even knew it was there as we walked around the scenic Bushnell Park empty and divinely beautiful with delicate white and pink flowers on almost leafless trees. A serene pond with two ducks diving for insects with a far-off view of the Capitol building made us whip out our cameras. We continued to click as we walked, ancient stone buildings peeping from behind alternating bare and flowering trees, a stone seat with a figurine holding a torch and a shield, the sprawling, empty lawns, the Capitol building getting closer as you walk up a little hill-like portion of the park, the now silent stage of the performance pavilion.

Now that summer seems to be saying hi, we can finally look forward to doing a lot of touristy things like the tour of Boston and Niagara and around Brooklyn and Manhattan and Staten Island. Less sitting round the house reading all day and time to finally get out and about.

But at the back of my mind is the land of snow and freezing weather that welcomed me on my first day in the US. I know I'll see it again and this time I'll get a pic of the Capitol building surrounding by a field of powdery white snow. Till then though I'm going to enjoy wearing thin jackets, open toed shoes and taking a holiday from weather.com!