The Four Seasons

We’ve had some cool days lately, with the highs barely getting into the low 70s.  That’s pretty unusual in August.  I thought the first week of school had to have highs in the 90s, but I guess not.  It’s going to get warmer again, but the temperatures, as well as the start of school, are a notice to us that summer is nearly over.

I don’t like that.  Summer is my favorite time of year.  I love the warm days.  I love being able to walk outside without a coat the first thing in the morning.  I love being able to ride my bicycle around town.  I love going to baseball and softball games.  I even love the thunderstorms, as long as I’m inside when they happen.  I love just about everything about summer.  I’m not looking forward to it being over.

But, of course, it is going to be over.  Soon it will be fall, and then it will be winter.  I’ve lived in South Dakota for my entire life, and I’ve never known a year when it did not happen that way, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to work that way again this year.  I’m not planning to leave South Dakota, so I’m pretty sure it’s going to continue to work that way for the rest of my life.

But you know what?  It’s okay.  I’ve said before that if we don’t like something, we have two choices.  We can either change it, or we can accept it.  I can’t change the weather, so I have to accept it.  And I do.

And the truth is that I can find something to enjoy about every season of the year.  Fall is nice.  There’s football in the fall.  School starts, which I know doesn’t please everyone, but it brings all kinds of school activities to go to.  There are all kinds of church activities, too.  The leaves change colors and are beautiful.  The cool mornings and evenings make me appreciate the warm afternoons all the more.

I have a harder time finding something to enjoy about winter, but there are some things.  My birthday is in the winter.  So are Christmas and New Year’s.  The Super Bowl is played in the winter.  And have you ever been outside on a cold, clear night and looked up at the stars?  There are so many of them, and they’re so bright.  It’s just an incredible sight.

And of course, spring is beautiful, too.  We get the spring rains.  Lots of baby animals are born in the spring.  And everywhere you look, everything looks fresh and green.  Baseball starts again.  It’s a rebirth of the entire world, in a way.  And of course, there’s Easter, and a time of spiritual rebirth as well.

We are privileged, really, to live in an area of the world where we can experience and appreciate all four seasons.  God created a world of infinite beauty and infinite variety.  We are allowed to see more of that than many people are.  We should be grateful to God, not just for creating all this beauty, but for allowing us to see it.