Ah -- spring in Virginia! It's May 12, and it's ... 47 degrees! The high is forecast (by yahoo weather, at least) to be 57 degrees.

What's going on?

Last year's Theologian in Residence at St. Stephen, Larry Rasmussen, was among us to talk about Christians' responsibility to care for the earth. He explained during his first session that he was careful not to use the phrase "global warming," because that has become such a political football. Instead, he spoke repeatedly of "climate change" -- because of so many weather occurences that haven't happened in human memory: tornados in England, for instance, or snow in Libya. Compared to those two examples, I guess 52 degrees in Williamsburg, Virginia on May 12 is not so dramatic. But still, it feels like something's going on with our climate.

Anyway, Patty and I had her parents over for a Mother's Day dinner last night. The house was chilly. I refused to turn on the furnace on May 11! So I built the traditional Mother's Day fire in the fireplace.

The weather was chilly and threatening two days ago, on Saturday, for the annual Capital to Capital 100 mile bicycle ride, from Jamestown to Richmond and back. The wind was not our friend. On the way to Richmond we rode into a slight head wind, and I kept thinking how wonderful it would be for it to be a tail wind when we turned around to head back home. Of course, by the time we got to Richmond, the wind had shifted and intensified -- so we got to ride into the wind for most of the 100 miles! At least it never really rained.

Robert Floyd, a 15 year old from our congregation, rode with me. (Actually, it was more a case of him having patience with my pace. The last seven miles or so, when Robert was familiar with the course, it was all I could do to keep him in sight! After 93 miles, 15 year old legs have a lot more spring left in them than 54 year old legs!)

Here's a picture of us after conquering the course: