In the US, today is Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, day of barbecues and pool openings.  At home, by late May, we would have had the air conditioning running for a few weeks, and high temperatures in the 80s would be considered good fortune, since 90 is just as common.  For all practical purposes, late May in Maryland and Virginia is summertime.

But here, it isn’t.  May is still really and truly springtime in Vienna, and I love it.  The trees are still budding and flowering, the first roses have yet to come out, and I still can’t put the jackets and sweaters away.  (Although, the weather in Vienna being as unpredictable as it is, I will leave out a sweater for each of us all summer, and we will most likely use them.)  All through May, we’ve had varied weather — wet days and dry ones, warm days and chilly ones, wind some days, thunderstorms on others.  Our warmest days this month were in the mid-70s, and we’ve had nights that have gotten as cool as 40.  Today, it is raining on and off, with a forecast high of 57 (although it’s nearly 3:00 now and only 48 outside, so I somewhat doubt we’ll get any warmer).  It’s jacket weather . . . on Memorial Day.

I absolutely love that we get to experience a real spring here.  Summer will come — we’ll have 90+ degree days, some even with humidity — but I’m in no hurry.  I’m enjoying rewriting May in my mind as springtime.