I miss seasons, but I don’t miss short days.
I have always known seasons. When the weather starts to get hot, it is time for school to end and trips to the lake to begin. When the weather starts to get cool it is time for apple- picking and leaf- raking. When the weather starts to get really cold it is time to get the sweaters and boots from the basement, start Christmas shopping, and get my skis tuned. When the weather starts to warm up again it is time for dirty snow and beautiful blossoming trees and flowers. Each season has its own list of pros and cons, but they created order in my life. And then I moved to Thailand.
Thailand has the hot season, the hotter season, and the hot and wet season. It is monotonous. And it is pretty darn hot. Over the years I grew used to the heat. I rarely used air conditioning. I started to shiver in temperatures below 75 degrees. I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes in any temperature lower than 68. (No, I didn’t feel my fingers or toes most of the time I was in New Zealand.) But it gets boring. Seasons don’t mean anything there. There aren’t different activities associated with different seasons. Well, let’s be serious, there aren’t any activities at all. But, I was thrown off. All of a sudden my dad’s birthday would be a week away, and I had forgotten to get him a present. It was just as hot as it was the month before, and the month before that! How was I to know it was August already? And Christmas, forget it! The country was not only stifling hot in December, it is Buddhist. There is no snow on the ground, and there aren’t any Christmas tree stands throughout town. And that is where the homemade paper wreath came in!
Short days, however, those are a thing I didn’t miss. When I went to New Zealand there was still light in the sky at 9:45 pm. I was utterly confused. I had spent the last two years living my life in light and dark. If it was becoming light, between 6:00 and 6:30 am, I needed to be in the shower and getting ready for school. And if it was getting dark, between 6:00 and 6:30 pm, it was time to start thinking about dinner. In New Zealand, it was never dark! How was I supposed to know when to shower, eat and sleep? And now in New York, it is always dark! It feels as though I should be sound asleep just as my mother asks me what I want for dinner. (Yes, my mom is making me dinner, and I have no shame telling you that!) The long and bright days of summer are wonderful, but the dark days of winter are going to take some getting used to.
So, seasons, I am glad to be back. Short days, I’m not especially thrilled to be back to you, but I’ll do my best.
And for those of you looking to buy me presents, I will happily accept socks and mittens! This winter is going to be rough.
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