Seasons Change

Daily Gratitude Year Four-Day 315: Today, I am grateful for changing seasons.

(Text my journal prompt #15: What SEASON are your most grateful for?)

Living in the Midwest of the USA- we know seasons.  Some pass by too quickly and others linger a little too long, but in America's heartland, good crops depend on the changing seasons.  

I learned to enjoy all the colors in each season's palette. 

Spring - for the bright greens and fresh pops of new life breaking forth in glorious hues across the landscape. The dark black of newly turned earth as the farmer prepare the ground for the seed. It is wonderful and beautiful.

Summer - is alive. Everywhere plants grow. Children sprinkle the neighborhood in whatever mismatched items they want to wear. Shoes are optional. Crazy prints on flip-flops and beach towels compliment the blues of a day at the pool. People share in family reunions and family vacations. Summer is the season of fun and festivals. One every weekend, if you look. 

Fall - glorious fall. I often say that autumn is the reason people love the Midwest. This year... fall has felt a bit extended.  More beautiful days than cold, rainy ones. The leaves seem to bloom as they break into reds, oranges, purples and gold, before the trees let them go to nourish the ground. They show off the natures glory... and then humbly take a bow into winter.

Winter - it is "not my favorite". But, in recent years, I have retrained my heart to take joy in the stark barren landscape (great for photos). It is a sign of rest for the land and much of nature sleeps.  Some brave wildlife continue to roam the plains and some courageous birds still find a song. There is a wonder... and a wondrous beauty in a winter landscape draped in pristine snow, untouched by man or dog. 

When the winter ground looks dead and "ugly" ... look again. They are so many shades of browns, flax,ginger, grays, and other earthy tones. The neutral palette does have a unique beauty. Winter is, also, a season of rest and running with family gatherings. From Thanksgiving through Christmas, families will share meals, gifts, memories and make some more moments to hold on to until the next winter comes and they gather again. Rest for the ground. Rest when the holiday chaos is done. Rest when a snowstorm reminds us that we must pause... and not move so fast.  

Life has changing seasons, too. Some are fun, and others can be more difficult. It is the movement from one into the next that makes the good seasons better... and the hard seasons more bearable as we know they will... in time... pass. 

Again... Solomon's wisdom echoes..."to every things there is a season" in Ecclesiastes 3. 

Today, I am grateful for changing seasons. "Variety is the spice of life."