As time goes by, the seasons change. I enjoy the rhythm of those changes, even if our Houston weather doesn't give me the distinct seasonal change I crave.
Summer is our longest season -- it starts to get warm enough to qualify by most people's standards as summer by April and it builds and builds and builds all the way past Halloween, with the hottest time spanning from early August to the end of September. Parents raise their eyebrows and worry that it's wasted money to buy any Halloween costume that isn't light-weight. We are at the moment in the most frustrating month for Houstonians. The calendar says it's soon to be fall, and yet, the temperatures regularly soar over 100 degrees throughout this pressure-cooker month. And the threat of hurricanes still looms over us at least into mid-October.
Fall comes late to Houston, if it comes at all. Occasionally we have a glorious spurt of fall color that hits more or less as the calendar indicates it should -- even early October one crazy year. Most years, the fall color is vibrant for a week or two right around Thanksgiving or even into mid-December. One year, I distinctly remember we didn't have fall color until a brief spell in January. But that crisp pretty autumn weather I crave is hard to come by here. Fall comes and goes, day by day, from early November until right around Christmas.
Winter, such as it is, can be as short as a few days in December or January or the better part of those months. January is the only reliably sweater-weather month. February is weird -- the leaves are starting to bud and flowers are blooming, but last year we had that life-threatening freeze right as people had thought winter was in our rear-view mirror.
Then we have spring, which is generally from Valentine's Day through mid-April, when it starts to seem more like the beginning of our long summer season. We can have little pops of spring even into May, but April and May are definitely more summer than spring on the whole. We do have amazing azaleas, which we all missed last year because that harsh February freeze killed everything. Some of my plants didn't make it, others are only now showing signs of returning to their former glory. (And no, the hydrangeas pictured here don't look anywhere near this happy and healthy now -- they too are limping along and eyeing the calendar moodily)
I plan to retire somewhere that has real seasonal change, but even with the odd, out-of-sync seasonal shifts here in Houston, I appreciate the associations each season has for me, even if it's too hot for sweaters during what the calendar proclaims is "fall" for everyone else. Wherever you are and however you're celebrating the coming change in seasons, I hope you are finding peace and joy.
I hope to have more change to report next month in the form of an upcoming book release. In the meantime, you can find more about me and my writing on my website. You can find my Clubmobile Girls series on Amazon.
3 comments:
Eleri, I'm really looking forward to #3. And I do love my seasons, although what used to be summer has taken over a few other months (stolen from spring for sure). And the few days, maybe a week of 90+ temps has turned into weeks and months of it - however, this week we are forecasted to get RAIN - first since spring. We are in such need of it here in the Pacific Northwest.
I loved your pictures. I too like the colors of Fall though where I live it isn't as amazing as on the east coast. Most of our trees are evergreens. In the past, we've visited grandchildren on the east coast in the Fall--usually October--and that is peak color season. The perfect time for crisp evenings but nice days (maybe 70-75 F).
I do think of Houston humidity which makes summer temps even worse. I also think of the hurricane season. As I lived in Mississippi for a time, I remember watching those hurricanes move into the Gulf and wonder where they would strike. I can't imagine living in an area with that natural disaster regularly on display. But then every part of the country has some kind of natural disaster waiting in the wings.
Where do you picture yourself retiring, Eleri?
Judith - I always think of the Pacific Northwest as being cool and rainy for much of the year -- that's not what you're describing though.
Maggie - I've been scouring climate change projection maps -- ha! No, even without looking at those maps, I would still be drawn to NC or VA, inland from the coast and with a nice mountain view. I'm thinking about the Asheville area or maybe near the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA. It may be somewhat driven by where my kids land up, but I think I'd like to at least spend some years in NC or VA.
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