Seasons

What’s your favorite season? I love them all (though truth be told, I’d like them better if the coldest part of winters and the hottest part of summers were a tad bit shorter, giving more space to the gracious warming of the spring and the refreshing crispness of the fall).

It has been interesting watching the approach of “snowmaggedon 2015,” which certainly has been impressive in New England but which has left people from Philadelphia to New York scratching their heads in the “wait, this is it?” kind of way. Hey, what can they say—weather is unpredictable. At least now you all have toilet paper and milk.

My boss thinks I’m obsessed with the weather. I think this reputation is a tad... ahem, exaggerated (I mean, I’m just watching the news already—and doesn’t everyone check the weather before they pack? C’mon), but it is fun to play into the role of Weather Girl… did you hear about the approaching hurricane/blizzard/tornado/sinkhole/dust storm?  In truth, I think what I love about the seasons is what I love about the weather in general—it’s constantly changing, it’s unpredictable, it’s powerful, it’s beautiful.

I love that the normally chaotic and congested streets of New York City can be completely silenced by a blanket of snow. I love that a ravaging thunderstorm can leave behind a stunning rainbow. I love that the morning and evening sky can look like some kind of artist’s palette.  I love the smell in the air just before a spring rain storm. I love that the sun stays up until 10:00 in the summer. I love when the sky starts to fill with hot air balloons against the deafening sounds of cicadas in late summer.  I love cozying up in front of a fire while the weather howls outside.

I don’t love it when the re-birth of spring means a dozen little creepy crawlies are trying to decide whether the inside of our house would make a good residence. I don’t love it when the rainstorm in Oklahoma causes my flight to be cancelled in New York. I don’t love it when the third 100-degree-plus week in a row causes the A/C to go on the fritz. Or when a slip on the ice causes an unplanned trip to the doctor. Or when the carefully planned outdoor event gets rained out. I don’t love shoveling (except for the first time). I don’t love that it’s pitch dark by 5:00 pm in the coldest months of winter.

But that is the truth of weather, and the constant of the seasons—it is expected and unexpected. Predictable yet unpredictable.  Ever-changing.

Our lives follow seasons as well. Some days the sun is shining bright and we are like a happy teenager humming along to their favorite tune while driving a shiny red convertible (okay, I never had a shiny red convertible, but I'm pretty sure it goes with a happy sunny day). But some days the clouds are menacing and the thunder is howling and the lightning is lighting up our world like some kind of strobe light.  Some days we happily fling open the door to whatever awaits us on the other side, and some days it's a struggle to even get to the door.

Only this we know:  the seasons will change.  Just when we start to feel like we winter will never end, the first brave tulips and daffodils show their faces to the tiresome ice and snow, giving us a glimpse of spring.

So it goes in life; the weather will be kind, and it will be cruel. The sun will shine and the rain will fall. You may avoid a “snowmaggedon” or you may get three feet of snow dumped on your head.

How are you embracing the "weather" today?

Interested in having Erika’s blog come directly to your e-mail each Tuesday? Have comments to share?  E-mail her at erika@tlpnyc.com.   Find all her previous blog posts at www.tlpnyc.com/author/erika