Spring, Summer, Then Harvest Time

byMaggieJoy

146 followers

Updated 10 years ago

It's 5:32 a.m. in the Midwest, Chicago Illinois, to be specific. Checked the news on TV and, predictably, every local newscaster was droning on, on and on about the weather. As a fairly recent transplant from the S.F Bay Area, I'm amazed at how frequently and in what detail the weather here is dissected and discussed, along with historical references. It's like listening to a sports wrap-up. In San Francisco it's cool, cooler, foggy, or warm, sunny and then foggy. That's it, and that’s my frame of reference. That being said, I now want to talk about the weather, or, rather, about the changing seasons.

Winter in Illinois is always cold, snowy, barren and seemingly too long. It catches me by surprise every year, both by its intensity and by how it just suddenly shows. Spring and autumn are my favorite seasons, both of which are very brief here, and the summers are long, hot and often humid. Most people think of summer as vacation time, but I experience summer here as somewhat difficult and a bit too long. Here in the Midwest, summer is hot, just hot, with sudden thunderstorms. It is a time of hard work and patience, with farmers putting in the time and effort to bring forth a full harvest.

Spring, of course, delights us because of its beauty and promise. It's time to clean out the old dead stuff left over from late fall and winter, plan your garden and till the soil. It's a fairly easy time, and the weather is pleasant. But don’t wait too long to do your planting if you're planning on a good crop this autumn.

I consider this the springtime of my new business and relationship with the WA community. There is great promise of growth here, provided I do the necessary work of planting and cultivating; luckily, I've got good tools available and there are very capable and generous people here, willing to lend a hand or give a helpful word.

Today is May 22, and Memorial Day is this coming Monday. That, I'm told, is the "unofficial start of summer." In any event, summer is on the way, and that means the hard work of cultivating my crops is close at hand. I admit to having become a little disillusioned during the long winter. For me, winter meant searching from one thing to another to find a business program and training that I could have a reasonable hope of succeeding in. It was a really long winter.

Spring is here, though, and I'm waking up, looking around, and pleased with what I see. Now's the time to prepare the soil and put in the seedlings, anticipating the coming summer in which to cultivate my crop.Then, my favorite, favorite season, autumn, Harvest Time, will arrive in her graceful and generous way.

I'm expecting this to be a very good and successful year. Wishing the same for you!