Season Change

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "change of season?"

No matter what time of year I hear it, I always picture leaves falling off trees. Fall always seems like the most clear-cut sign of season's changing. We're too busy enjoying the last days of summer to notice the gradual coloring of the leaves or the first few to hit the ground. And then suddenly we look up and...

Backyard October 2013

Winter just gets colder. Yes there's snow, but not always. And I'm so impatient for spring that I scan the ground daily for little specks of green from February on. It's more gradual than I care to think about right now, at the start of the long cold lonely winter.

The thing is, I often forget about the other changes that come with fall. Waking up in pitch dark, for instance. Even when one forgets to set the alarm and wakes up an hour later. It's still dark.

And the heat. Well, the lack of heat. Because this house, people, is COLD. In the afternoons I open windows to warm the place up. No joke. The other day I woke up the furnace and turned up the heat for the first time. Now I've got all thermostats planted at 60, figuring it will turn on when we really need it. We all end up huddling under blankets reaching out every few moments to place a hand on the heating unit. Is it warm? No? But it Must be under 60 in here, it's freezing! This will go on until February, when I will give up and turn everything up to 75, and that will last until June.

The boys sleep later in the fall, because of the dark, yes, but also because the windows are shut and they can't hear the early commuters. Also, it's warmer in the bed.

I can't speak for the boys, but this morning I had that first winter shower. In the summer one can take time removing one's clothing, pausing to turn on the water, pin up one's hair... Winter showers involve steam, the rush of tearing off whatever in on one's body and quickly immersing one's self in the hot water. Shoulder's relax and breathing eases as parts of the body heat up that you hadn't even realized were cold. You hadn't realized you couldn't feel your toes before now.

It's a little depressing, in the "seasonal depression" sense, because it's the very start. It's the beginning. After this there will be many days of waking up to darkness, taking rushed showers, feeling the heaters to see if they are really on. My advice? Tea, sweaters, and lots of fun music. Make a soup once a week. Whenever the sun is out, go for a walk. Sometimes, go for a walk even when it's cloudy.