Changes

Today as I felt the sweltering heat at 90 degrees, I began thinking of why I like living in location that exposes me to all four seasons.  As I thought about this I really struggled to determine which was my favorite and then I realized that I love something about them all.

I smiled though in thinking that when I am in the middle of one of these seasons I am thinking about the next one and what that will bring.  Why do we do that?  We anticipate the summer fun and when we are smack dab in the middle of all the activity we desire the slower pace of winter.

I have decided that I am going to try harder to be reminded when I am in each season that;

Winter brings the crisp white snow that I Love even when it is so cold that breathing in makes your nostrils stick together.  I love how I feel each year when the first flakes begin to fall and you feel like it is the first time you have seen snow.  Why is that?  Are we amazed that it really did snow again?   Then the times when the snow keeps you home, when you have to go out and shovel in order to get out, Making a snowman and coming in for hot chocolate with red noses and burning cheeks.  The greatest thing about winter is celebrating the birth of our Savior.  I love everything about the preparations for Christmas.  The days of decorating so everything is just perfect for the family.  The hours of thought that is put into choosing just the right gift.  The baking of all the family favorites and making those cut-outs come to life with icing.  I love the smells of winter/holidays.  The cookie baking, candles burning, pine trees, smells that spark warm comfort memories of years growing up.  With winter though comes an end to all that is good about it and then it turns into the end of winter which brings gray days, dirty snow, after holiday blues and the desire for Spring.

Spring Makes me feel like everything is fresh again.  The grass changes from winter brown to a rich green color.  The flowers that lay dormant those long winter months begin to bud and soon burst with color. New life is all around us.  I feel a burst of energy and the need to rid our home of all the germs that may have been trapped through the winter.  Removing the dust that has accumulated and making everything feel new!  The smells of winter become the smells of spring- my favorite, when the Lilacs bloom.  I love  having that smell drift through the open windows and being amazed at the memories it prompts.  One sniff of the lilac bush and I am back at my childhood home picking one of many large bouquets from our giant Lilac tree.  Carefully making the stems long enough (something ingrained in me from mom) so that they can get water in just the right size vase.  Taking them inside and having mom wrap a wet paper towel and then foil around them so I could proudly carry them to my teacher.
By the end of spring usually we are tired of the rain and ready for the fun that will begin with Summer!

Summer guarantees warm temperatures and promises busy schedules.  Most people take their family vacations during this month.  We are excited about doing all the things that we are limited to during the other seasons.  We gather more frequently with friends and family.  It is likely the most popular season of all. Summer brings people out!  Clothing styles are completely different than those worn in any of the other 3 seasons.  Our meal planning changes in the summer.  Do you enjoy a hot dog or hamburger in the dead of winter like you do fresh off the grill in the summer?  How often do you make that favorite potato salad or fresh squeezed lemonade other than in the summer?  As much as I love summer and all the activity it brings I am probably more ready for it to end than any other season.  I am usually ready for the crisp temperatures and smells of Fall.

Fall  brings the death of our beautiful flower gardens, but the amazing beauty of the changing colors.  It brings the last burst of color before the stark white of winter.  I Love fall!  I love the fall holidays.  I love the slower pace of fall.  All those activities that do not take place in the fall are packed away with new memories made.  Fall brings smells all it's own.  No greater smell than that of the fall apples, fall scented candles, fall festivals and hay rides.  The colors of pumpkins and fall flowers.  Again our meal planning changes.  My first pot of chili for the season is on Halloween when I pull out the crock pot and simmer it all day.  Getting out the pumpkin glasses and fall colored dishes and sit down to a steaming bowl of chili before heading out to satisfy all the trick or treaters.  Fall brings the anticipation though of that next glorious season
Winter and we begin all over again anticipating a year of traditions old and new and memory making once again.










Silence of winter !





New Life!





Tastes of summer!





Colors of Fall!