Mostly what I miss living in Southern California is seasons that I understand. Cool days bookended by hot days well into October are incomprehensible to me. In Hawaii, I was attune to the seasonal changes moving throughout the year in logical intervals. Cool, wet springs followed by warmer humid summers. By the end of September the humidity would abate leaving crystal touches of the fall. Winters cooler that spring with more rain. Generally the most unpleasant, unpredictable season on the islands.
Here we have had our hottest summer weather at a time when the rest of the county and pretty much the rest of the Northern Hemisphere are unpacking sweaters and jackets. Trees are beginning to turn and drop their leaves. Pumpkins make an appearance and don't appear out of place. Instead, my power goes out last Sunday because everyone was running their air-conditioning all day. And I rarely turn my A/C on, for heaven's sake.
I am waiting for cooler weather, pulling out the sweatshirts and pulling on sweatpants. It's not that I want snow, but weather that doesn't leave me drained would be nice. I can't wait to walk around the Huntington and not yearn for the cooled buildings.
I miss Japan at this time of the year. It is perfect, the trees turning, the humidity finally lowered. Some of my best trips were during this time of year. Sandan Kyo, Akiyoshidai, Kyoto. Hikes and walks, clear crisp days that make you feel alive. The changing leaves to mark another year drawing up to wind down in shortened days and lengthened nights. The crispness gradually turning into nipping and then biting cold before relinquishing its hold to the coming Spring.
Here, I feel discombobulated with the weather. Summer that spits and stutters until it catches sometime in August. Winter is a mercurial pest, packing punches one week and high tailing it the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment