Thanks #14 (Seasons)

I’m thankful for the seasons. There are definitely four distinctive seasons here in southern NH. There is clearly a spring season when the snow and ice melts and growth gets a slow start. The winds still howl, but now there are wisps of warmth mixed in to the winds that dry the soggy, thawing ground. Summer comes as all things growing flourish and greens abound. Sight lines change as the leaves of trees fill the millions of voids left from the previous autumn. Days get longer and warmth continues into the evenings. Lakes, ponds, and streams warm up enough to give us many options for play and a place to cool off. The sun’s arc is higher and longer, changing the angles of shadows and windows everywhere show less wear. Then autumn rolls in. The sun still warms the days enough to allow us a fleeting grasp on summer. Daylight is shorter, nights get cooler, and clear mornings carry with them a crispness that is unmistakably the fall season. The leaves make their way from green to the most beautiful combination of colors that adorn our forests, yards, and hillsides. Soon the winds turn, the air blown in is cooler, and the leaves scatter across any and all open spaces. Then nights get cold, temperatures dip below freezing, frost covers the ground, and the first flurries of snow meander through the cold altitudes to remind us of what’s to come. Winter arrives with its weather hazards, shortest of days, and temperatures that keep the ground frozen until spring. The sun’s arc is now much shorter and the angles all change again, this time leaving windows to show every smudge and streak visible. Ice forms on the lakes, ponds, and streams edge, giving us places to play, sled, and skate. Snow blankets everything and gives us some of the prettiest scenes we will ever see. The clean white snow has a way of softening the rugged harshness of the outdoors. The weight of snow covers the evergreens and somehow it makes the barren looking hardwoods less noticeable. Hills, thorns and all things sharp, jagged landscapes, steep inclines, and all things difficult appear softer, smoother, and less ominous with a heavy coating of snow. Just about the time when we tire of the snow and ice, and the wary travel, the season starts to turn. I am thankful for the seasons.