Benefits of a cool, damp spring

I've often been regarded as a bit of a weirdo, out of step with most other people, and I wear this label proudly. Many are complaining about the cool, drizzly weather we have had lately, but I'm not. My contentment with it was reinforced as I drove to my Tai Chi class this morning through a gentle misty sort of rain. This weather is preserving the tulips and cherry blossom which often have wilted and gone altogether by this date. Today the brilliant colours looked almost incandescent, seeming to light up my way along the road beside the Rideau Canal. The huge magnolia tree on the next street north from here hasn't fared quite so well -- its blossoms have wilted and many have fallen. You can't win 'em all. Otherwise I welcome this cool weather, but fear that it will be gone, and many of the tulips with it, by the end of the holiday weekend that's about to begin.