The Seasons Don’t Really Change

Growing up in South Florida, I heard this a lot from the northern transplants, the unhappy ones, at least.

They’d tell me that the weather was always the same – hot! I’d always argue that there were distinct differences in the climate that were clearly visible throughout the seasons. These poor unfortunates always replied, “Yes, but I really miss the change of seasons we had up north.” Whether that “up north” was New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota or Wisconsin, the lament was basically the same. I wondered why they were there, in Sunny South Florida, if they really wanted to be back up north where the season drastically and observably change. I wondered what all the fuss was about. The seasons we experienced were luscious and beautiful. I loved the storm season on Miami Beach and I loved the spring because the temperatures were always in the low 80’s and there was always a breeze coming in off the ocean. I loved the daily afternoon thunderheads that would gather on the horizon, full of promising rain, and then quench our thirst at about 2:00 pm every day. I loved all the different seasonal changes I noticed in South Florida.

It’s not like I’d never experienced the northern seasons. I had lived up north on several different occasions. But, I couldn’t really recall being all that amazed at the changing seasons … until I moved back here to Michigan several years ago. I’m not sure why this time in the North is different for me, but it is.
Suddenly, I’ve noticed the beauty in the stark landscape of snowy winters and the new life hidden in the eager, promising green buds of spring. I’m enjoying watching the plants in our garden burst out of their winter brown and start to shoot up, full of color and excitement.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching as shoots of new life and blooms of new beauty appeared all around me. It’s like watching a symphony. Somehow, I have new eyes to take it all in. There’s a freshness and vitality with the season changes here that is palpable. The air changes and becomes charged with the electric pulse of life. It’s remarkable and, at the same time, so totally normal. This week, our flowers bloomed and they’re incredibly beautiful. No, I can’t tell you what they are, though I will say that they’re purple. They were planted years ago and they come up on their own, no human intervention needed. Thankfully, I don’t have to depend on the color of my thumb to have a beautiful garden, otherwise it would probably be a barren wasteland!
It makes me realize how much a part of this great system of rebirth and renewal I am. The seasons cycle through, birthing, growing, living and dying and, though I get caught up in the “stuff” of my everyday life, it really helps me remember how much a part of these cycles I am.
There are so many things in life that demand my attention, from friends and family to the thousands of marketing messages flowing at me every second of the day. And yet, at my root, I am simply going through the same process as the flowers in my garden. I’m in bloom, still growing, still reaching for the sun and the stars, still drinking in the freshness of each day.
As I came into this world, I’ll go out of it at some point, too. Hopefully, along the way I’ll add my share of fresh vitality and beauty. Hopefully, I’ll share myself in such a way that I bring some measure of joy and peace to another. Hopefully, I’ll be seen along someone else’s path and they’ll feel the same sense of peace and rightness at being part of this beautiful remarkable world. Hopefully, when my winter comes along, I’ll have left a stamp of some kind and some roots that lay the foundation for another generation of freshness, growth and vitality.
What stamp do you want to put on this world? How do you want to impact the people who flow into and out of your life? And, let me know if you can identify the flowers.