DC in the Springtime
It’s spring in the District.
This time of year is Washington at its most beautiful. Flowers are starting to bloom, grass is green again, and the branches of trees are beginning to bud leaves. Temperatures are still fluctuating a bit, but you wouldn’t know it if you looked on my school’s campus– girls are wearing sundresses, groups are out playing frisbee or picnicking or smoking hookah on the quad. Some people have been seen sunbathing on the warmer days. The National Cherry Blossom Festival also starts this weekend (which means tourists. A lot of them. I have gone downtown during the Festival once, and that was enough for me. The flowers are pretty, but I’d rather avoid that area of the city during the festival).
For me, the best part about the warm weather is taking walks. I don’t walk for walking’s sake, but I walk to class, to work, to the grocery store… basically anything within a mile, I walk. And let me tell you, it was a lot nicer to walk from the grocery store last evening than it was when we had 3+ feet of snow. It also means the gardens are blooming, and as I work at a place with a beautiful garden, I can return to leisurely 20-minute lunches sitting in the sunshine, surrounded by flowers, with a book.
What is your favorite part of spring?
– Jane Granville
I’ve lived in both Washingtons, but as you can tell from my name, I now live in Washington, DC. It is stunningly beautiful in the spring because the natural beauty and the buildings (such as the monuments, museums, Congress and the White House) complement each other’s beauty so well. There’s a lot of white marble in DC, and when surrounded by red tulips or pink magnolias it takes your breath away (it’s also lovely in autumn).
I live in the OTHER Washington and I took pictures of hummingbirds outside my window yesterday!! Oh how I love this time of year! When we’re driving down the road you can see different shades of green in the trees. I think that is my favorite part.
Although I love the blooming of spring flowers and flowering trees such as dogwood and red bud, I think I enjoy most watching my plants emerge from the ground after dormancy. Peonies are my favorite flower and I have ten plants that I’m lovingly watching in addition to yarrow, lilies, salvia, hostas, ferns, etc. I really love this time of the year.
I lived in Gaithersburg MD and worked in the District for a few years. It IS an amazing place in the spring.
Even farther north…we don’t have a hint of green grass yet, but we do have birds. The birds have been back for a few weeks now, and I love to hear them in the morning. A sure sign of spring. love it.
—Writer of the article asked: What is your favorite part of spring?—
For those of us who live in the more northern part of the US, the favorite part of spring has to actually have it arrive and stick around for a while. We usually get teased with some great temps, then they dip back into wintery digits before deciding to stay. Sometimes that can almost be May. This year, I feel it will come earlier; but who knows? Right now it’s raining and the grass is greening up, but there’s a chill in the air warning us that we’re not quite there yet!