Tiffany Painter

When visiting a friend this past week, she referred to being in “this season of life.” This got me thinking, of course. For her, the seasons are in relationship to somebody else. She is in the season of having very young kids. I am well past that season with my adult children. My thinking took me in another direction, a more personal one. Spring is about rebirth and starting out. Childhood is when we are in the spring season of our life. Kids do grow like weeds after all. Their gangly limbs just seem to blow in the breeze as they run from one place to another. Summer is for staying out late and having fun. The first few decades of adulthood are when we seem to live life to its fullest. We don’t have to answer to parents; we don’t have to have everything figured out; we try new experiences to see what we like; basically, we finish growing up. Fall eventually comes around and things slow down. We are more settled in our lives and have expectations. Some of us are pretty settled in our routines. Leaves change colors and fall like our hair. As things turn cold, winter comes creeping in. The trees stand bare and try to survive the cold, dark days. But they have wisdom and grace that the saplings lack. Those summer flowers die off and become fertilizer for the new growth that is just around the corner. If you live someplace like I do, you know the seasons are not perfectly aligned and there will be some crossover. Summer likes to revisit in the fall and spring may pop up early before winter is done. After breaking a lifetime into the four seasons, I thought about where I am at. Age wise I know I am sitting fulling in fall. But there are times when I forget and think it is still summer for me, until I walk by a mirror. As winter inches its way closer, I remember that it is a gift to get to enjoy all of the seasons. Some people don’t live with all four seasons.

4/15

chair with best view
sits alone by the water
at peace with oneself

4/16

when the rain is done
and the sun breaks through the clouds
the cattails can dry

4/17

some want a house with 
white picket fence, others want
fence with a white house

4/19

trying to stay warm
while gently snoring away
a chilly spring day

4/20

uninvited guest
blanket of snow dampens mood
party crasher leave