Seasons

I’m not quite sure when it happened, but summer is suddenly in full swing here in Iowa. The last few days we’ve had high temperatures in the 90’s with relatively high humidity, and the heat is supposed to continue through this week at least. But wow, is this my season.

Okay, to be honest, I like most of the seasons. Summer is obviously delightful, with its sun and warmth, and so many fun events. Fall’s crisp, cool air is always welcome after a few months of heat and humidity. Winter is definitely my least favorite, but I do love feeling cozy, and it’s hard to feel cozy when it’s warm outside, so winter is good for that, at least. Spring feels like a breath of fresh air after being cooped up all winter. Truthfully, if I didn’t have to go anywhere during the winter and could just stock up on necessities and stay home for the three coldest, snowiest months, I wouldn’t mind it as much as I do. But having to get up before the sun to get my frigid runs in before showering and then going out in the cold again to go to work…well, it’s not my favorite.

As I’m typing this, I’m sitting outside on the little porch of our “Quarantine Cabin”. I think I’ve mentioned The Cabin before, but just to give a few more details, The Bearded One and I currently rent a little house from my parents. It mostly works out nicely because I’m close and can help my dad out on the farm when he needs it, but it’s small. When we got married, we each essentially had a house full of stuff, so when he moved in with me here, we didn’t have room for everything. We both got rid of some, but there still wasn’t enough room for it all, so in March of 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic, we decided to make a purchase: a prebuilt 12’x32′ building which I like to call The Cabin because it makes me feel fancy. We decided we could fix it up and make it into some extra living space. It took us a while to get electricity run to it, and we’re still getting it finished inside, but I don’t know what I would have done without the extra space this past year–especially the teeny tiny covered porch it came with.

I’ve always loved being outside, but I’ve never had a covered outdoor area at any of the houses I’ve lived in since I left my parents’ place, and finally, because we bought The Cabin, I do. My covered porch is literally only about four feet by eight feet, but that’s enough for me for now. I’ve spent countless hours out here with the Marty-Dog on her tie-out, working (when I was working from home for the first month or two of the pandemic), reading, eating, streaming Netflix on my laptop, planting seeds, and just sitting, listening to the birds sing and watching the crops grow. Plus, I get to see so many gorgeous sunsets. Even though my pale freckly skin doesn’t get along well with the sun, I’m a person who otherwise thrives outdoors. My whole body relaxes when I hear the breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees instead of the hum of fluorescent lights or the refrigerator running. When we were home with COVID for two weeks this March, I set up my hammock stand inside The Cabin and napped there for hours. When I was recovering from food poisoning a few weeks ago, I put the dog on the tie-out and napped out here again. I’m grateful for a lot of things in my life, but this little building ranks pretty high on that list. This last year has been…something. But it would have been something else if I hadn’t had space to be outside, and The Cabin has made it much easier for me to do that without having to reapply sunscreen multiple times a day. I can’t imagine what it was like for people who live in big cities, or even in apartment buildings in small towns–my quarantine experience was very different than many people’s and, again, I have so much gratitude.

But, this blog post isn’t just an ode to our Quarantine Cabin–it’s also about seasons. As I mentioned, I love the seasons when I can be outside comfortably. But, as lovely as it might be to have beautiful weather every day, I don’t think I ever want to live in a place with a temperate climate. When it’s nice out every day, it’s easy to get used to it–to take it for granted. But when you’ve gone through a winter, especially a harsh one with bitter cold and lots of snow, the warm rains and new plant life of spring are so welcome, and summer feels like a dream.

I think life is similar. If every day is nice, and we never have to deal with hardships, it’s easy to take it all for granted. But when we go through hard times, it makes the good times so much better. I’m the first to admit that I’ve been fortunate to have had it pretty easy, but even the marginally difficult seasons I’ve gone through in life remind me to really appreciate when things are good. And this weird season (the one called COVID) won’t last forever. Life already feels completely different than it did for us six months ago. The Bearded One and I likely have natural immunity and we’ve been vaccinated, so we’ve starting doing some things again. And just like this summer weather is giving me life these days (from the shaded safety of my cabin porch, at least), the prospect of getting to interact with the world again has me giddy. I appreciate the perspective this pandemic has given me, though, and I’m sure it will be a reminder to enjoy the seasons that come after.