Seasonal Ramblings

Many people have favorite seasons of the year.
We have just experienced one of the best summers Norway has ever had. Pleasing warm days, sunshine, swimming, hiking, and eating outside. In a country where the sun is absent during the winter months--that is does not rise high enough on the horizon--I would say that many Norwegians worship sunshine and get excited when the thermostat creeps above the 20 degree Celsius line.

Not everyone has summer as their favorite season. There are actually those who prefer the crisp days of winter with its contrasting hues; dark green pine against white snow and bright blue skies or days when sky and snowy grounds seems to be melted together in a fluffy, soft, rosy-white coldness.
Some prefer the season of renewal, chirping birds running to and fro building nests and clucking brooks bringing the melted snow downstream.
Or autumn, the colorful, fiery season when school starts, apples are harvested, preparations for indoor activities flourish, and anticipation for the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas are on the agenda.

Me, I like them all. I love living in a country with changing seasons. I love the way nature changes and being in God's creation during all kinds of weather.

I believe I change a little with the seasons, too. The expectant, anxious feeling of what a season entails, the thrill over what that season will bring and what I will learn, is exciting to me.

But if someone would ask me straight forward, "What is your favorite season?" I believe I would answer spring again and again. Even though autumn for some reason makes me feel more creative, summer lifts me up with rays of sunshine and wonderful smell of rain on fields of clover, and winter takes me outside for walks on white paths of serenity.

I have lived in countries without changing seasons, evergreen areas of our planet where hats and gloves are redundant. I missed the seasons, the changes in climate and hours of daylight. I longed for spring flowers to pop up in patches where the shy warmth of sunshine had melted the snow. I missed watching the migrating birds in the sky and noticing how plants go dormant or come alive.

The warmer climates have their seasons, too, but it's a simpler version of mild and cool, hurricane or typhoon season, and wet and dry.

Just like preferring a certain season, we have opinions about where we enjoy living.
Good.
Much variety, even more people with different opinions.

That's life.

Today's water colors are of migrating birds and a farm in summer.