Four Seasons – Gratitude Day 17

Although I did appreciate that ridiculous press conference held by the outgoing US presidential administration at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, this post is not about that. It is about actual seasons.

This morning on the way to school, E asked, “Would you rather be uncomfortably hot all the time, or uncomfortably cold?” (Tough question. I said cold, but it wasn’t an easy choice.)

It was a question that just reminded me how thankful I am to live in a place where we have four distinct seasons. I really love the different temperatures and beauties and foods and so on.

I remember when I lived in France, my flat-mate Luz Elena told me that in Bogotá, where she used to live, the temperature is about the same all year long – not to mention that sunrise and sunset times barely shift. Both of these things, although they made sense, kinda blew my mind. How do you delineate your year with no seasons? How do you keep track of time? How do you find balance in your life??

For me, even though it is disconcerting how fast seasons pass these days, I love witnessing and participating in them. If you ask me my favourite season, I usually want to say whatever season is next. The cycles of death and rebirth, hibernation and procreation – they are sacred replenishment in my mind.

A big fluffy snowfall feels an enveloping benediction to me: Okay, world, slow down. Be quiet. Rest. When snow finally melts in the spring and flowers start coming up, the miraculous nature of the giddy sprouting is impossible to ignore. When the leaves change in the fall, it’s a jaw-dropping kind of beauty that makes my heart hurt – in a good way. And summer has the greenness I thirst for during the whole rest of the year.

If this little ramble feels overly sentimental – which, as I read it over, I rather find it does – so be it. I cherish my four seasons and they are a big reason I’m happy to live where I live for the foreseeable future.

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