Living somewhere on the globe that didn’t experience four seasons would be a difficult adjustment for me to make. As a child growing up in Pennsylvania, I took for granted that life’s activities were largely organized around the seasons of the year. While I never planted or harvested a crop of any kind (unless you count plucking my eyebrows, which in my youth did require the use of a thresher), I still took my cues for so many things—from new endeavors to fashion choices to mental outlook—from the changing seasons.
As an adult, I continue to run on this internal calendar although I have willingly traded Pennsylvania winters for considerably milder Georgia ones. My strict adherence to “seasonalism” was a bit confounding to my Colombian husband when we first met. Seasons to him meant only rainy or dry, and he had a hard time understanding the lifestyle dictates of a temperate climate. He just didn’t get, for example, why the pink sandals worn on a sunny, 75-degree May afternoon would be completely inappropriate if worn on a sunny, 75-degree afternoon five months later, in October. (What’s next, eating caramel apples in July?)
With the official start of fall fewer than two weeks away, the lazy lemonade days of summer are quickly becoming a memory. Delicious though it was, that time has come and gone, and I am anxious to embrace cool, crisp mornings and warm, blue-skied afternoons (albeit, not in pink sandals). I want to immerse my senses in the sights, sounds and smells of autumn and feel my spirit renewed and my energy recharged. It seems a bit incongruous to talk about fall as a time of renewal since even a non-agrarian such as I know it’s the end of a growing cycle, not the beginning of one. I suppose it’s a holdover from schooldays, but fall has always signaled a fresh start to me. I see fall as a reset button, one last chance to refocus my goals and finish the year strong.
And maybe there’s a larger lesson for us in that seeming contradiction. The truth is we don’t have to wait for the appropriate season or any particular date to change our course and head in a new direction. Any day of the week, any time of the year can be a new beginning for us if that’s what we desire and dedicate ourselves to achieving. We have the power to create our own planting and harvest seasons, ones that will best serve our needs and advance us on our journeys. So, take this season and make it your own. Toss the calendar aside and determine what it is you need to do for yourself. Whether it’s time for you to plant, harvest or lie fallow this fall, go do it. And, what the heck, if it feels right to you, you can even wear pink sandals!
I have those same feelings about the seasons growing up in northern Kentucky. Now that I live in SC as you said they are milder, but still enjoyable. I still think of fall as a new beginning. It has to be the school days thing. This is my favorite season of all and after waking up this morning I think it just arrived.
Amen, it’s another perfect pre-fall day in Atlanta today and I’m actually feeling motivated to work again, so obviously fall is a season of miracles too!
Like you, I’m good at surviving. It seems like I’ve been groomed, since I was a girl, to survive what life puts in my path. You’re right about the change of seasons, especially fall. It gives us permission to start anew. I’ll pass on the pink sandals, however. I’m still getting used to being able to wear white after Labor Day. Brenda
I hear you on the pink sandals! It seemed so funny to me that seasons meant nothing to my husband–the weather is the same and the school year even goes Jan-Dec, so this whole idea of what’s appropriate or what your mood is based on seasons was so odd to him and my stepsons. Thanks so much for writing!
I grew up with all 4 seasons and miss them now that we live in Northern CA. I was 98 yesterday and I want to be seeing the leaves turn colo. I long for crisp air!
I have gotten to be a huge baby about cold weather, so I now accept my snowless Christmases gratefully. But, I do like a change throughout the year, and fall leaves and apple cider are two of life’s treasures. 🙂
It must be the school thing, that sense of fall being a fresh start (with new pencils, notebooks and school clothes). And after a humid summer, the crisper days and cooler nights are refreshing and I feel more energized. I don’t even mind the Maine winters so much since I don’t have to commute. And I just love all the shades of green that burst forth in the spring. So yeah, I’m definitely a four-season gal (and missed them SO much during the five years I lived in southern California)!
It’s definitely the school thing for us in the U.S., which seems so odd to my ESL students and friends whose school years in their home countries are Jan-Dec. If they come from a country without four seasons and a Jan-Dec school year, they really don’t get it at first! But everyone falls in love with autumn when they experience it. :-)Any reason I can give myself to get back on track is good for me!
Living in South Africa we don’t really experience four clear seasons so my advice to you is don’t immigrate! We have a definite summer, over the end/beginning of the year which right now is scorching. And we have a winter that can be very cold but except in a few areas we never see snow. Spring lasts a couple of weeks and autumn (fall) kind of creeps past with leaves blowing away almost unnoticed. Oh for the beauty of your American fall or the thick snow falls of Scotland where I was born. Thanks for a lovely post.
Thank you so much for your comment, Shirley! I would love to visit South Africa–have some good friends from there–but that would be a big move for me! But, we are having a cold snap here in Atlanta this week–it was 24 degrees this morning!–so a little scorching sounds good to me right now. 🙂
I too love the changing of the seasons. I love how different they are, and the different challenges they bring. I also love the different types of beauty each possess. I was in California one year after Christmas and it was such a surreal experience. A true New Englander I am!
The seasons dictate so much to me–think of life without the coziness of “sweater weather” and the smell of wood burning in the fireplace. My first few Christmases in the South were a big adjustment to me, but I have to admit that I don’t miss heavy snows anymore.
I would love to live where we have four seasons Lee. I live in Brisbane, Queensland where like your husband it is usually hot and rainy in Summer and usually mild, dry winters. I have visited the US several times in Fall and just adore the colours of the leaves.
I do love the change of seasons and fall is particularly beautiful, but I’ve definitely lost my zeal for hard winters. It’s pretty mild in Atlanta compared to where I grew up in Pennsylvania, but my new plan is to live in different places at different times of the year so that I never have another winter!
I always feel a bit of excitement going into the fall, Lee and I love the four seasons. Thank you for giving me permission to have these feelings anytime of year and to wear pink sandals whenever I want!
Molly, let’s agree to wear pink sandals the next time we meet even if it’s in Boston in December! Hey, we should start a Pink Sandals club/group! the whole idea would be to encourage other women to make there own “new season of change” to start fresh whenever and wherever! What do you think?
I’ll side with your hubs here, what the hell is wrong with pink sandals on a 75-degree day no matter the time of year! #FashionFauxPas….why?
How did I not see this comment before??? I want to see you in pink sandals, Skipah, and then we’ll talk! 😛
We do have four seasons (though it rains in all of them), but nowhere near the extremes of seasons I experienced in Michigan. I’m divided on it – I love really cold winters, but I hate really hot summers, so maybe I’m just better in the middle without either extreme. I think I would find it odd to be somewhere without distinct seasons. And I absolutely could not cope with doing Christmas in summer like the southern hemisphere!
The older I get, the colder I get, but I’m not ready for year-round summer or even spring. Having to use a calendar to determine the time of year would be a reach for me since I never even know what day it is!