Did you hear that? It was the sound of Raleigh deflating its population by about thirty thousand people. Almost overnight, Hillsborough Street becomes much more friendly to cyclists, late night pizza joints and bars suddenly cut their hours back, and the amount of open space and peacefulness around NCSU campus seems to open up threefold.

Pictured above is Jacob. He’s an R.A. (and Eagle Scout), and like the rest of them he found himself with a bit of time on his hands as the semester is over and most students have gone back home for the summer or off to their jobs somewhere else. I bumped in to him as he was walking about campus essentially because there wasn’t much else to do as everything suddenly became quiet.
He’s a sophomore majoring in Materials Science.

For the next couple of months there’s a noticable absence of noise and traffic, in addition to the lines at Harris Teeter becoming shorter. There are outdoor festivals and gatherings every weekend.

Regardless of what the Gregorian may tell you, summer has arrived in Raleigh.