As seasons change, so do people's lives

As this is being written, a change of seasons is under way. Although summer will be around for another month, the changeover to fall is ongoing.

Perpetual debate rages between the folks who prefer living in four-seasons country and those fans of only one season.

When the single-season weather is warm with an ocean or desert nearby, inhabitants love it; they firmly deny that the sameness is monotonous. Four-seasoners believe only one season would be boring.

With the exception of residents of Hawaii, Florida, Southern California or parts of the desert Southwest, most Americans move through the cycle of change.

The one-seasoners don’t build their lives around seasonal changes, they ignore them. As one who spends a portion of the winter on Maui, I can confirm the lack of concern on the island for the low temperatures, ice and snow back home making the winter season such a bundle of fun.

Elation, not boredom, describes my escape from winter. In truth, seasonal changes pretty much guide our lives. Think about it: our lifestyles change with each new season.

Seasonal leisure activities may require things from outdoor cooking equipment to snow blowers. Of course, we purchase new clothing to accommodate the season. Enter the new clothes, exit the out-of-season things.

New wardrobes aren’t the only indication that a change of season is imminent. The school year is based on the seasons and determines what we do and when we do it.

Preparation for the beginning of school is a harbinger of fall long before the temperature is fall-like. Daily conversation shifts from summer vacations and outdoor recreation to the activities that go along with the fall season.

Merchants are ready with new clothes, books and supplies indicative of going back to school. The lives of adults, long since out of school, go through similar changes.

Having spent my professional life as both a high school and college teacher, I know how the change from summer to fall altered my focus. Some people believe teachers spend the summer living a life of leisure, laying around the swimming pool sipping mint juleps. Nothing could be further from reality.

As for me, I either attended summer school, taught summer school or worked at summer jobs so I could afford to be a high school teacher. Fall and school means change for everyone.

The more laid-back, casual lifestyle of summer gives way to the hectic schedule that goes with fall. As the season progresses, trees lose their colorful leaves and the bleak landscape signals the specter of winter looming on the horizon.

The seasonal frenzy surrounding the Christmas holiday preparations helps diminish the ominous prospect of the coming season – the one for shoveling snow and slipping and sliding on the ice. Christmas trees and Santa Claus can ward off the dreary winter slush for just so long.

The holidays end, the kids go back to school. The length of the wait for the arrival of spring hinges on whether a groundhog sees his shadow. However, a rabbit, not a groundhog, will actually produce spring.

By the time the kids outgrow those back-to-school clothes, the Easter bunny will mandate a new spring wardrobe. Memorial Day means school’s out: summer vacation time.

Can Labor Day and back-to-school be far away?

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