The Distinctiveness of Seasons

We call Michigan “home”. The place where you point at your hand to tell people where you live. The place where your favorite stores are Menards and Meijer. The place where Kalamazoo truly does exist. And yes, the place where you can experience four beautiful, full, distinct, breathtaking seasons.

At times while driving with the windows down and sweating out the amazing heat and goodness of summer, I try to imagine the land when it’s covered in frozen tundra. Vice versa, on cold blizzard-ing type days when it’s so cold that your eyes are the only thing showing, it’s hard to believe that the frozen terrain can also give way to gorgeous 90-100 degree sunsets.

People are constantly remarking something to Josh about how he must hate the winters as he is originally from Georgia. But they couldn’t be further from the truth. Josh LOVES it: the cold, the snow, the winter temps, all of it. He declares our winters to be a “dry” cold, whereas the winters in Georgia were always a "wet" cold. Whatever floats your boat, Josh. But yes, expect to look outside and see Josh rejoicing in the snowflakes floating toward the ground.

I don’t know my favorite season.

While I absolutely love the relaxing warm summer breezes and being able to wear shorts and tank tops all day long, it’s also hard to beat the fall colors. When the leaves start changing, I get giddy while driving down country back roads and am just taken aback by all the vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows that penetrate everything in a beautiful hue. Then the winter comes and that first snow brings a fresh different air that smells like Christmas, snow days, and pine trees. But then…once Christmas is over, you just kind of hold on desperately waiting for April/May to come and wash it all away in the showers that bring the spring flowers. Then the cherry blossoms come. Oh man. LOVE them! I don’t know if this is normal in most states, but the blossoms only hold on for a week or two at best. You cherish that week with all you have in you and count the days til they come again!

So yeah, which season is my favorite? Is it sitting at the beach, with your toes in the water and watching the sun set? Is it soaking in the smell of the autumn leaves while eating pumpkin donuts and drinking apple cider? Is it watching the delicate snowflakes alighting on your gloves while you examine each intricate detail? Or is it the watching the bright green buds appear on all the trees as everything changes from browns to cheery pastels? Hmm...I’ll let you decide.

Photos are property of Josh and Andrea Photography, LLC