Winter -- California Style
The November greening of California is as exhilarating to me as is the emergence of fall colors in New England. From amidst the dry and desolate, the first rain sparks the bright green of new grass and clover, often overnight. Suddenly there is a feeling of possibility again, and future, after the long senseless summer, and the disquieting fall, as the rain raced the many fires seeking to claim another swatch of The Golden State.
Seeing the tiny clover begin to cover the ground, there is a sense of renewal, in part based on the relief that at least Nature still works. Though with El Nino and La Nina and global warming, we can’t be sure how long "normal" will be "normal".
It’s time to put away the shorts and short sleeves, as the temperature slides down to daytime highs in the fifties — half of the summer highs. The air conditioner was switched off a month ago, and the heater is ready to keep the house habitable in the wee hours, if necessary.
The firewood holder by the door is filled for the first time in seven months, the chimney flue is finally cleaned, and some of the newspaper doesn’t make it to recycling. The firebox quickly warms up the living room and most of the house. Somehow the heat from the burning wood feels more comfortable than the hot air blowing from the wall vents and the unit on the roof.
The deer have been trimming the garden. They don’t seem much concerned about people, and even gunshots don’t seem to frighten them. The dawg, from whom they would run if he moved in their direction, doesn’t seem much moved to move in their direction, or any direction. Maybe I should throw dog cookies at the deer.
Linda is coming home when it is already dark out now. The days will continue to shorten for another month. And then, leading the seasons, they will begin getting longer again, as if to carry a promise of spring through the remaining raw winter afternoons. The hot tub helps as well.
Having been brought up in New England where once the trees drop their leaves, the scenery turns listless shades of grey, I very much appreciate the greening that the winter rains bring to northern California. We have to bundle up, but we don’t have to hunker down. It doesn’t get bitterly cold; it rarely even snows.
It’s not the level of creature comforts that I find so appealing, but rather the blooming of life rather than the lifeless annual latency that freezes the North East and Middle West, forcing people inside in an attitude of bustling hibernation.
I also never did like shoveling snow.
And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.
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