Peg's Earth Day Birth Day
Photo by Chuck Hoffman © Genesis+Art
St. Croix River Valley
Hudson, Wisconsin
When Chuck and I lived in Florida, people would tell me that they “missed the seasons,” or they “never missed winter,” or that “summer was long.” When we lived in the North Cascade mountains, “winter never ended,” March was “depressing,” and “Hiking season was too short.” While I agree that Hiking Season is far too short, I have a tendency to focus my seasonal point of view around a few big words and how any season fits into my plans, rather than finding beauty in the small nuances.
The traditional Japanese calendar is split into 72 different seasons a year. Each of these small seasons are given descriptively beautiful names. The increments usually describe exactly what is happening in nature within those particular days, such as “Cool winds blow” (August 8-12) and “Evening cicadas sing.” (August 13-17). Granted, nature does not operate with such precise rhythm, but it is a good reminder to look for the gift of greater awareness in a season.
The words winter, spring, summer and fall don't tell us much about what is actually occurring in nature at a specific time. In the cookbook, Lark, according to author and Chef John Sundstrom, the 3 seasons in the Pacific Northwest are: Bounty, August- October, Mist, November-March and Evergreen, April-July. His redefining the seasons according to local food got me thinking about our general seasonal vocabulary.
All this is to say that winter here in Wisconsin is 6 months long. It would be helpful to have extra detail and a few more seasonal descriptors to give better shape to our snowy months. As I sit here writing this blog on April 22, snow is falling. Today the low was 20 and the high temperature 38, tremendous inspiration for me to do my own winter seasonal calendar.
Season of Lesser Snows-November and December
Early north winds blow all colorful leaves from trees Season
Large delivery truck sinks driveway into rain soaked yard Season
The garage is a giant Jenga game Season
Mail trucks slide off road in the same icy spot every year Season
The Season of delivery packages covered with snow
Season of Major Snows-January and February
Roof-a-lanche Season for area Pole Barns
County snow plows destroy mailbox Season
Replace lost gloves again Season
Season of many days Below Zero
The I don’t care how much snow, only my morning coffee Season
Season of Rain and Snow Mix-March and April
The very distressing Vole discovery Season
Season of no power for 2 days
Late snows flatten new clump birch trees Season
Lakes Ice-out, sinking ice fishing palace and pickup truck Season
The Christmas lights are still up Season
In all seriousness, I understand that weather is terribly unpredictable these days and the climate crisis affects everyone, not all equally. It is certainly one thing to lose your power in winter and another to lose your home to hurricanes, fires or tornadoes. Yet the clarity we gain and the awareness we can acquire by exploring and celebrating small seasonal details reminds us of the wondrous rhythmic cycles in nature and our interdependence upon each other.
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