A Year in the Life

[Yeast]

January : the year begins late at night with the crackling and popping of fireworks. Winter is still in its infancy but it often clutches the land in a frigid grip. The lowest temperature I remember is 30 below zero. Clear days can be beautiful though, the bright sun shining off crystalline fields of snow under a glacier blue sky.

 

February : This can be a fickle month. A little warmer than January overall, but towards the middle of the month the temperature can rise to 60 for several days. This is often followed by a blizzard featuring single digit temperatures. This cycle sometimes repeats itself. It generates large craters in the street. Chuck hole season has started. Tires beware.

 

March : this is the coldest month but not in terms of temperature. Things remain barely frozen but the high humidity allows the cold to penetrate right down to the bone. This is also the windiest month, adding to the chill.

 

April : this is a month of promise. It usually begins cold and damp but as the weeks pass things begin to change. Early spring flowers begin to bloom. The end of the month is the peak of the dandelion bloom. Some yards are ablaze in yellow carpets of shaggy, ground hugging flowers.  One now notices the days are getting longer. The trees become shrouded in wispy green lace. Chuck hole season ends. Hooray!!

 

May : this is one of the most beautiful months. Pears, red buds and crab apples color the landscape in shades of pink, red and white. Good years lack a late April frost and the magnolias also join the dance of flowers. Frosts die this month and the year’s garden can begin. Winter melts into spring in the form of intense thunder storms. The chuck holes are now just asphalt filled recollections.

 

June : a sort of rehearsal for summer. Not really hot although it can be. At night the fireflies make their first appearance. Lawn care “experts” drench some yards in toxic waste. A perfect green carpet of grass and nothing else. At night their yards shine as brightly as black holes while mine twinkles with a galaxy of dancing green lanterns.

 

July : summer begins, often with the same vengence winter does. Temperatures can climb into the mid to upper 90’s. The eternal humidity then pushes the heat index above 100. The 4^th features a repeat performance of New Year’s eve with a firecracker symphony exploding all around me. I’d rather watch the fireflies instead. The garden begins blooming.

 

August : the hottest month. A combination of heat and humidity makes this as uncomfortable as March was. In fact in March one wishes it was August and visa versa. In late July the cicadas begin singing. August days buzz with stagnant heat. At night the katydids and bush crickets continue this insect music. Oh yes, the mosquitoes have begun to really bite. Hard.

 

September : the only other truly beautiful month. It can start hot and humid but after about a week the haze clears and the air becomes as clear as crystal. The intense blue sky stretches to infinity. It is cool but seldom cold, wet but seldom damp. Sometimes I wish September lasted forever.

 

October : this is when the hardwoods begin to paint the landscape in yellow, red and brown. Many state parks are visited because of this. Light frosts eventually begin to occur and the sounds of insects become memories. The mosquitoes also vanish, at least for this year. Summer slowly bleeds to death in the form of rain.

 

November : this is the darkest month. Shorter days are smothered under lead colored skies. All that remains of summer is its rotting carcass of decaying leaves falling from the skeletons of trees. Sunny days are a welcome respite from all this death and decay, yet a haze remains. Huge black flocks of starlings rotate under a grey blanket the sky casts and they replace all the leaves at night.  

 

December : November weather continues a week or so and sometimes this is followed by several feet of snow and intense cold. Winter has truly arrived. A deep silence descends at night. Everything exists in a state of suspended animation. The month ends. The year ends. A new year begins.

[Guest Jetsun Milarepa]

Lovely evocative piece of prose @Yeast, thanks!

[pickles.]

I love this!  You write beautifully!

[Yeast]

Thank you all! ☺️ ☺️ ☺️