Seasonal Time

We have lived in Las Vegas for five years. There are many benefits to living in Las Vegas, not the least of which are mild winters and early springs. One of the downsides is the absence of a changing of seasons. We have color out our backdoor all winter long. Spring comes in early to mid-February and the Bradford Pears are good for about 10 days. We do have flowers that bloom for the next 3 months and many of them last all summer and well into the fall.

Cedar Rapids, IA - Donna and Sally

However, I have noticed over the last two springs and winters there has been a change in how I perceive time. After living in the Midwest for almost 40 years I became very acclimated to 4 seasons and constructed part of my feelings and expectations of time based on the expectation of 4 seasons. 


Those of us who have four seasons know they are considerably different. They each make contributions to our lives, both in perceptions, attitudes, and activities. Consciously or unconsciously we schedule ourselves within the context of our seasons. In many ways we consciously and unconsciously schedule ourselves around those seasons/ Just as sport is seasonally based, we too are seasonally based. Most of us are only indirectly aware of our linkage to seasons. When you lose the seasons you struggle to gain a new sense of seasonal time. 


For example, as we came to the end of the spring semester at the university, I have found myself thinking it can't possibly be the end of the academic year. We had missed fall and winter. I felt a sense of incompleteness, or emptiness, as we moved into our summer. Absent from my Las Vegas experiences are extended periods of fall, spring, and winter. We have all four seasons in Las Vegas, but to a much lesser degree. We have the colors year-round as well as similar weather, just varying degrees temperature with an occasional (and I use the term occassional loosely) rain shower or snow shower.

Fall in Terre Haute, IN - One of the prettiest places for fall
that we ever lived in.

What I'm feeling as we come to the end of the academic year is a lack of closure in my seasonal time. Intellectually I know that May signals the start of spring, the end of winter and the school year, but in the absence of easily definable seasons I feel incomplete. There is an absence that I stuggled to understand until I realized I'm still a product of midwestern seasonal time. It's unsettling, even after you understand it. I suspect that if I stay in Las Vegas long enough I will ultimately change my personal conception of seasonal time.

I always took seasonal time for granted. I suspect that if I had lived in Las Vegas my entire life I wouldn't be influenced by the lack of seasons. But since I have spent the bulk of my life living through the 4 seasons I find the absence of the seasons creating a dissonance of how I perceive closure. I am not even sure that "closure" is the proper term, but that's the feeling I get in the spring. "It can't be spring when we have missed fall and winter." But interesting side note is that these feelings didn't occur in the first three years that we were here. But this year I have noticed it more than ever. Even spending 2 1/2 weeks in cold in wintery Idaho didn't make up for a full winter season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not missing winter - just the seasonal time winter creates for me.

Denver, CO while we were visiting the Allen family

Seasonal time is as real as clock time. With a clock we can monitor the time of day. With the change in seasons we can monitor the change in temperature, daylight, color, clothing, and the like. When we change our seasonal time we lose a part of what has been ourselves. I don't think that is negative, but I've never seen anyone write about seasonal time - although I know they have. For those of you with 4 seasons, enjoy them. For those of us without 4 seasons we will just adapt.

Taken at a county park south of Terre Haute, IN. This represents the king
of summer and green that we miss in Las Vegas. It is also one of my
favorite photos.

Short Weekends, Long Naps, Reflections

I remember my Grandpa Merriam. When I was young and we were visiting in Des Moines, IA, we would all come home from church, have a big dinner and then Grandpa would putter around until he found the couch. He would lay flat, pick up the newest edition of National Geographic and begin to read. At least that was what I thought as a child.

On reflection, I would sit and watch that National Geographic get lower and lower until it was right over his face with the spine of the magazine centered on his nose. It would stay that way for a couple of hours. I didn't really understand why he was tired, but I sure do now. In fact, I love those weekend naps. Yes, weekend naps. I don't always get them, but it seems they occur more frequently then they used to. I took a 2 hour nap this past Saturday another nap on Sunday. Of course I'm not real tired now.

I'm beginning to think that I'm feeling the need for a little more rest. My weekdays are pretty hectic and I just don't have the stamina I had 20 years ago. I cherish my weekends with JoAnn and time to do different things. Less frequently do I bring home work for weekends. I'm busy with family and with Church, plus a little relaxing. I do enjoy the weekends probably more than I ever have.

Getting back to Grandpa Merriam. He was forever a tinkerer. I was always impressed how he seemd to keep busy. Whether it was genealogy, philately (stamp collecting), photography, or whatever. He was always busy. In later years, after retirement, he moved to polishing stones (see the photo), decoupage, travel, and family. I find myself more like him every day. He was a great influence on me - much more than I recognized.