Nobody likes change, and that includes the changing of seasons. We never want to see summer go. No one likes having to pull out their snow salt and there can’t be a single person who enjoys watching their May flowers shrivel up in the June heat. Nobody except for me, maybe.
The big picture involves saying goodbye to something we’ve gotten used to and has become the new norm, but it’s the unnoticed parts of the changing seasons that make the transitions so wonderful. Sure, I love summer just as much as any other summer camp-attending, beach-going, popsicle-loving kid, but without its tearful end, what would become of those nutmeg-scented first hints of autumn? An endless summer would mean an end to new shiny folders and pencils so sharp that you just need to start writing with them. No more restocking of Premium Pumpkin ice cream at Trader Joe’s. It would mean your hair could never smell like last night’s bonfire, your hands would never help dad discover the boogery goodness of pumpkin guts, and your feet would never taste the crunch of crispy tree bark on the sidewalk.
But all good pumpkin-spiced flavored things must too come to an end, and make way for winter. I can’t say waking up before the sun does motivates me to start my day, or getting home long after it has set motivates me to start my homework, but no one can argue that discovering two dollars in the pocket of your closet-creased coat doesn’t make their day! Or pulling out that sweater you bought last winter and completely forgot about. And the understanding that no matter how old I am, snow days are for one, and one purpose only–making cupcakes with mom.
But best of all, the way snow forces every single thing in the entire world to be quiet, and when you walk out onto the street before the plows get to it, the only sound is your own crisp breath. But as the last dirty mounds sadly melt from the school parking lot, something magical happens, and suddenly everyone’s wearing pastels again! And then every day on the way to school the drive is something new as the world wakes up again little by little. And you remember how pretty your front yard is when you can see that grass inhabits it. And soon your big brother is home from college and you can start eating dinner together as a family again and have a catch in the backyard after. Knees and shoulders are reintroduced to the fresh air, and everybody happily stays after school to watch the baseball team lose their games.
But just as another baseball season comes to an end, and sitting outside to watch a game becomes nearly unbearable, homework starts to lighten up. And walking from the parking lot to the school doors is no longer a frosty dash. Taking out the trash becomes less of a chore when you can do it comfortably in a tank top, and lighting bugs come along for the not-so-long trip down the driveway. And then, there it is, the first faint far away jingle, you think, no wait now you know for sure, it’s got to be nearing, the ice cream truck! It’s not Christmas or no school or Spring Break that make each time of the year so special, it’s the little things that make them what they are. Sure, the big things are great too, but counting down the days from milestone to milestone isn’t what makes them good, it’s all the baby steps that we encounter in-between.