A Short, Sweet Visit From the Sun

Spring Reappears Briefly As Rain Plans an Encore

I think the sun is a flower,

That blooms for just one hour.

In the Ray Bradbury short story "All Summer in a Day," a planet plagued by constant cold and rain gets a two-hour respite after seven years.

"The sun came out," the story goes. "It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out, yelling, into the springtime."

It was a little bit like that this weekend, when people across the Washington area emerged from their heavy coats and stuffy homes to enjoy a brief, sunny reprieve from a winter that has overstayed its welcome. A windy Saturday gave way to a calm Sunday, with temperatures yesterday hovering near 70 degrees. Brilliant sunshine reminded us that spring officially began about two weeks ago.

But achy knees and ominous weather forecasts portended a return to rainy, gray weather. Rain is expected to return today as a cold front sweeps through the region, with the wind kicking up and temperatures later this week dipping into the 30s.

People across the region threw on their flip-flops yesterday and headed for the garden or the farmer's market or donned more formal attire to attend church and observe Palm Sunday. Around midday, a woman and her 2-year-old son paddled a ball back and forth with hockey sticks in front of the White House. While in stop-and-go traffic on 17th Street, a woman in the passenger seat of a gray convertible -- with its top down -- snapped pictures of the scenery with a cellphone camera.

Near the Mall, Dawn McIntosh took close-up photographs of a field of daffodils as Pat Castle looked on. The Northwest Washington couple are recent transplants from the San Francisco Bay area and were craving a bit of springtime.

"We were very excited it was going to be warm with very little wind," said Castle, 41, a NASA employee. "We ran out of the house this morning."

Locals and visitors alike took the opportunity to experience one of the traditional vestiges of spring in Washington: the cherry blossoms. About 12,000 people participated in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, which Sally Meyerhoff, 25, of Phoenix finished in 54 minutes 38 seconds to set a record for U.S. women.

Crowds surrounded the Tidal Basin to take in the fleeting cherry blossom display, which peaked late last week and will disappear soon in a shower of pale pink petals.

Sandra Munoz, 39, of Miami said she is a longtime fan of the blossoms and what they represent, friendship between Japan and the United States. She, her fiance and their 13-year-old daughter were just beginning their week-long visit to the area but said the gloomier weather ahead does not faze them.

"We're from Miami, so we don't care too much about seeing the sun," Munoz said. "We're here for a change."