Seasons

I have had the chance to live in the southeastern sections of two very different states. When I was twelve years old, my dad got a job at Ohio University’s medical school and clinic. Ohio University is located in the gentle, rolling foothills of the Appalachian (app-uh-LATCH-un, NOT appa-lay-shun) mountains. This college town has all four seasons–spring, swamp butt, autumn, and gray-and-miserable with occasional school closings. There is no place prettier than Athens in the fall–red brick buildings, bright leaves, the Hocking (yes that’s it’s name) river winding it’s way through town, the Halloween block party, homecoming, the Marching 110–it’s an experience. Both spring and fall are a reprieve from the humidity that makes Ohio summers an endless parade of sweaty suffering. It was in Athens, Ohio that I was introduced to French existentialists in the middle of winter and fully understood what depression was. The cherry blossoms on the trees near the bike path, the variety of resplendent greens make springtime incredibly lovely.

I’m lucky to get to live in another college town here in Walla Walla, Washington, a valley near the plateau-esque Blue Mountians. While there’s not a big football or marching band program at the college level, the vibe (heavens, yes, I’m discussing the Walla Walla vibe) is unique and wonderful anyway. I moved here to get a job at Whitman College in the fall of 2008. Whitman is a private, residential, liberal arts college. VERY DIFFERENT from a state school. It has a small, picturesque campus and much smaller faculty to student ratio. But it’s also not the only college in the valley. There’s Walla Walla University (my parents alma mater), a Seventh-Day Adventist university. And there’s the community college that is nationally-ranked and has the enology and viticulture program that draws a lot of folks to our valley, too. So the seasons ebb and flow against these school calendars.

This little town has all four seasons, too, and it’s really fun because you can tell which one it is by what people are buying at Klickers (the produce/farm stand, antique shop, gift shop, cheese shop, pumpkin patch, and Christmas tree market). If it’s closed, it’s late winter and early spring. If it’s strawberries, asparagus, and spring onions, it’s late spring/early summer, summer produce is abundant and lasts quite a long time. Then the gourds and pumpkins start coming out. They build a big hay bale slide and pumpkin patch for before Halloween. Then they close for a bit to decorate for Christmas. The interior because a holiday showcase of ornaments and gifts and wreaths and outside it’s the Christmas tree lot. It might seem strange to someone outside of Walla Walla to think of one store in terms of season tracking, but this one really encapsulates how time moves in this valley. Others do so, too, the farmers market, Frog Hollow Farm. But there’s a LOT of history at Klickers. When I was a kid, visiting my great aunt and uncle, strawberry shortcake was made with Klickers strawberries, no exceptions.

I love spring and summer for all of the light and flowers. My garden is my happy place so I will always love those seasons best. Autumn is beautiful with the vibrant colors and gathering with friends and loved ones. Pioneer Park is a breathtaking work of art every time I walk through, most especially so in the fall. Winter is the one I have the hardest time with. I don’t participate in winter sports (not for a lack of trying). The loss of light is devastating to my morale. The amount of effort to keep functioning is monumental. It was great to be married to someone whose favorite season was winter because he buoyed me with his Tigger-like enthusiasm for snow and cold weather. I have a greater appreciation for winter because of him and his friends. Last winter, however, was my hardest…

That’s the part about seasons, literal and metaphorical that I appreciate so much. I get to experience them, learn from them, walk in them for the time that it’s appropriate. But no season is permanent. This means I can cherish the very best and bask in those good memories. When the difficult seasons come, I can do my best to appreciate what is good but rest in the knowledge that this season will end. A new season will always begin again.

[Tip jar: https://venmo.com/u/Rebecca-Lubbers-1]