I am one of those people who really enjoys the changing of the seasons. I think that is why I could not live in a locale where there really isn’t a seasonal shift in the climate. As you know, I “mostly” grew up in Texas as I like to put it. Now Dallas doesn’t have much in the way of seasons. Fall and summer are both colorless and hot and humid. Winter is pretty much non-existent, except for the occasional ice storm or on very rare occasions, a touch of snow. Two or three inches of snow are enough to bring that major city to its knees. Now in my little mountain community, we measure the snow in two to three feet, not inches, and the kids up here rarely ever miss school for a snow day no doubt to their chagrin.
Spring was perhaps Dallas’ only redeeming season. Spring in North Texas is truly beautiful with blooming azaleas, rhododendron, and forsythia everywhere. We would often drive along Turtle Creek in Dallas, just to witness the breath-taking pinks, purples, and yellows of those flowering shrubs. The only other state I have lived in that rivaled Dallas for springtime was Kentucky. Like Texas, it didn’t have much of a fall, perhaps a bit more winter and a greener summer. Springtime was a riot of flowering trees, the Dogwood, the Redbuds, and the gorgeous Tulip Tree. No wonder they always run the Kentucky Derby in the spring.
Now I do love winter. We’ve lived in three big time winter areas—Buffalo, NY, where we learned about the famous lake effect snow, Maine where our mailbox and newspaper box quickly became just a hole dug in the snow bank at the end of the driveway, and of course, the Colorado mountains. The measure of a big winter for us now is how many times we have to have a front end loader in to make more space for plowing the driveway. Growing up in Texas, I never in my wildest imagination would have thought that I would have my own plow truck. If you trust the Farmer’s Almanac, we are supposed to have a very cold and big winter this year. I guess we will see.
Luckily we enjoy the quiet and beauty of the snow, plus we indulge in lots of skiing and snowshoeing, followed by a nice hot toddy in front of the fireplace, although I do have to admit that by late April we are usually getting pretty weary with the endless snow. At times we even have to shovel little paths in the back yard for the dogs to get out and about to do their business. We call these the P-trails!
Summer is pretty marginal for me as I really don’t like hot weather at all. I can get my fill of hot weather with an occasional trip to a Caribbean island to soak up a little sun and sand for a few days. Luckily we don’t get much summer up here; however, fall remains my favorite time of the year. I was one of those strange kids who always looked forward to the start of school right after the Labor Day weekend. Heading back to school was always fun—all of those empty notebooks and tablets just waiting to be filled! It always seemed like fall should be the beginning of the year, not cold, dismal January.
Fall in Maine was quite beautiful, with the brilliant red maples, but fall in the mountains remains my favorite. As I write this in mid-September, we have already had one hard freeze, a preview of coming attractions. The hummingbirds have abruptly departed. They always seem to know exactly when to head south, often hitching rides on the backs of the Canadian geese. The bears are feeding voraciously, getting ready for their own long winter. We have a somewhat aggressive cow moose with a yearling calf in the neighborhood. To all of you selfie fans out there, don’t ever try for a selfie with a moose! They are notoriously bad-tempered and have poor eyesight, a bad combination.
The aspen trees are turning to golden yellow with an occasional touch of orange in them at a speedy rate. You can see them changing on a daily basis. There is that unmistakable feel of fall in the air, that undertone of crisp coolness even as the warmth of the sun continues a bit longer! We even have the occasional rainy afternoon with a gray drizzle, something we don’t get too often here in Colorado. Like many things in life, we have to savor these beautiful fall days while we can before those first few snows start up on October.
©The Eclectic Grandma, 2016
