Seasons

I complained about the wintery weather of Kansas City when I visited over the Holidays. I always loved winter, and the fresh coldness of it, the beautiful snow, the enjoyable warm beverages and the hoodies, scarves and slippers, but perhaps it was the sudden contrast, coming from a tropical climate to instant winter, that put me off of it, mentally and physically. All the sudden I was dealing with chapped lips when I never had to wear chapstick or lipgloss down there if I didn’t want to. My face suddenly was flaky and needed lotion more than twice a day, as well as my body, when I had no use for such things down there. I hadn’t needed lotion down there, and because any time I’d come out of the shower, I’d just sweat as I tried to apply it, I soon stopped the routine all together.

My home in KC, set at 69 degrees Fahrenheit, seemed to be chilly enough to have a cool nose and toes, and don’t even think about going to the garage or downstairs for fun. For the start of my visit home, especially, it was so cold outside, you rushed from car to house as quick as you could and thoughts of spending time outside recreationally were nipped in the bud. Definite sensations of cabin fever arose.

I found myself wishing for that sweaty, buggy, dirty terrain of Guyana, pretty quickly. Sure, you always had sweat stains, daily bathing was a necessity, most likely twice daily, as well, and it was almost always an issue of how much more one could remove of clothing to be most comfortable but not inappropriate. Any makeup you put on would be sweat off and smeared, or would make you break out or attract bugs so you wore the minimal. But it was breezy, refreshing. You weren’t encumbered by layers of clothes, or body care products (besides soap and deodorant). Free as the wind blows.

As a young adult who would be pretty content with air conditioning in the summer, this was a surprise to me as well as Mom, that I found myself in a tropical location for two years, and then chose to stay longer. That’s not to say I didn’t love nature or the outdoors or summer, I just enjoyed being cold.

Coming back into Guyana, I was met with the same breezes, the same lush plants, the same rains and the same natural smells. It was a ‘breath of fresh air,’ for certain, although it did occur to me, on some level, that everything was the SAME. Or, things emitted the air of sameness. That stability, knowing what to expect, can be appreciated at times – especially in a line of work that involves so much instability and surprise.

As I sat on the veranda to the hotel I stay at in Town, seeing the palm trees and feeling the breeze, I thought of – again – how I will need to say goodbye to it all, how my time in Yups will come to an end, how change has already started there, and will continue without me there. It sort of feels wrong to think of life continuing as normal without me there – my own life and life in the village. But, I remind myself that I’ve had to say goodbye to other seasons of my life before this one.

I remember feeling so involved with my job at Worlds of Fun, I stayed for 4 seasons there. I remember when I was in the pit orchestra for the play, My Fair Lady, that was a wonderful couple of months, full of rehearsals and planning and practicing. I remember when my routine every Sunday meant driving 45 minutes from college to KC to teach preschool and kindergarten Sunday school. Each season becomes a part of you, it’s in you, you feel it.

But most things don’t last forever. They can’t. Things ebb and flow.

Which is why I love the Midwestern seasons so much. None of the perpetual sameness, NOR the drastic leap from one extreme to the other. Granted, my favorite seasons are the transition seasons, Autumn and then Spring, but even the extremes of Winter and Summer have moments of joy, and moments that shed glory on their opposite.

It’s slow, it’s gradual, each season prepares you for the next. One can remorse that Summer is over, but then one can rejoice that Fall has begun, for Fall brings its own beauties, Fall brings us Winter, and of course, Summer is only a Spring’s breath away.

Even the more or less constant tropical character of down here has its slight seasons. There is a rainy season and a dry season. Growth seasons and re-growth seasons – just not all at the same time.

Earth’s beautiful balances. The end of one thing marks the beginning of another. And all good things must come to a close, sooner or later.