Seasons on Earth.
Seasons of our lives.
We can have all four seasons in one day.
We can get stuck in one season for too long.
We can move through some seasons too quickly.
We are sometimes ready for the next season, sometimes not.
Sometimes we don’t prepare for the coming season.
Everyone has their favorite season or seasons; but sometimes those favorites change over time.
I have learned as I grow older and more experienced that I like all the seasons equally. It wasn’t always that way. I see how they are all valiant and important. None better that the rest.
Each season has gradual changes as it fades to the next.
And yet there are bursts of dramatic change:
A snowstorm in September. A 60-degree sunny day in February. A hailstorm in June.
Each season offers us variations in experience, lifestyle, activities.
The differences among the seasons keep us fresh, versatile, adaptable, on our toes.
We often try to maximize the unique attributes of each season as it nears its end:
We sadden when we see those long, warm summer days fade into autumn.
The glorious colors of autumn, and its cool days, just don’t seem to last long enough.
Dropping leaves and dying vegetation signal the landscape is getting ready to rest.
And the harshness of winter is hard to handle at first.
It’s hard to say goodbye to winter ski season, as ski slopes turn to mush. Mud season blues. The big melt-off.
We often treasure those temperate, blossom-filled days of spring, apprehensive of excessive summer heat.
We are lucky to have four seasons here where we live.
We are lucky to have seasons in our lives.
We are lucky to have each other through all seasons of the year, over many years.
Lives have seasons, emotions have seasons, bodies have seasons.
Those who love each other, those who love us, teach about getting through seasons successfully. But oftentimes, we are forced to learn through our own private experiences how best to enjoy each season, how to survive the harsh elements of each season, and how to best transition from one to the next. And how to juxtapose the seasons to each other to see how each is important, despite their differences.
Autumn of 2009 was a difficult and tumultuous season of change. The vegetation died more quickly. The leaves did too. And they made different sounds as they hit the ground. The nights were colder than usual, and were colder sooner in the season.
Now the snow is here. The earth frozen. A “cooling off” period of sorts. A time of rest and reflection. A time for muted peace under the snowy quilted blanket.
The rest period begins.
Spring will be here soon, though — full of new blossoms, sprung from those stable roots. The roots that have endured many seasons, many living challenges, learning new ways for better growth as years go by.
Think of how “seasonings” shape the flavor of foods. We, as well, are flavored by and shaped by the seasons.
December 2009