One thing that's been fascinating about living in New England with its four distinct seasons, is how quickly and dramatically the landscape changes. I'm used to the lazier pace of Texas and California. There you really have two main seasons- a long summer, and kind of a mishmash of fall/spring hybrid the rest of the time. I remember in California flowers blooming almost any time of year, pretty flowers feeling like more or less a constant in our surroundings. Sacramento did have some gorgeous fall foliage, but it appeared in December and was quickly followed by spring flowers just weeks later.
Here, there are four distinct seasons to get through in 12 months- a long winter, and separate spring, summer, and fall. Each season has its own distinct features, and has to get through them in its prescribed amount of time. And so, in the fall you get leaves that start to turn, and you notice the changes from one day to the next, and a week or two later the leaves are falling. In winter you have snowfalls that transform everything literally overnight A warm spell then melts the snow, and again everything can look completely different. Now in spring, it's fascinating to pass the same trees and notice from one week to the next the very first emergence of buds, then the tree exploding into blossoms, and just as quickly the petals begin to fall and suddenly that tree that last week was covered in white flowers is a solid bright green of lush leaves, the ground below it covered in the fallen petals.
It kinda feels hurried, gives me a sense of needing to absorb the beauty of this moment RIGHT NOW because it will soon be gone, or at least different. This feeling is probably made worse by the desire to photograph what I'm seeing, but having trouble finding the time to do so. On the other hand, I love watching the landscape change, how the same roads I drive every day look different and new all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment