Winter appears to have arrived early here in my current location. But, has it really? Humans delude themselves by reducing everything down to mathematics and probabilities. We box things in, compartmentalize, group, analyze, project, and summarize. We base ideas on statistics and averages and we call this science. Yet, in the end, this does nothing to affect occurrences. We have average frost dates, average last frosts, first snows, strongest hurricanes, hottest temperatures, and so on and so on.
Somewhere along the way of human history, we decided that we could divide the weather into four seasons. There are; however, many places that never comply with our human ideal. Weather can be fickle anywhere. Winter will arrive whenever it arrives and it will not leave until it is ready. Prior to human advancement of trains, then automobiles, and finally airplanes, most people had no choice but to accept where they were. If they were born in the cold north, chances are they would never know the endless summer that exists in a tropical area. Likewise, those growing up in a warmer area never knew of the snow and biting cold of winter except through stories.
We have the choice now, to live almost anywhere in the world that we choose. In leaving one place though, we often must give up something we liked from our original birthplace. In choosing to move away, we often must leave our family, friends, and support system. If we have moved around the country or even around the world, we will discover that there is no perfect place. Every city or town will have something that is less desirable, not only in terms of weather. Culture and the underlying race consciousness will strongly influence our compatibility with an area. In the end, it is something much deeper that draws us to a place.
For myself, I have realized that in order to find true fulfillment, I must live where I can garden almost year round. Whenever winter arrives in early October and does not leave until nearly June, I am like a caged animal, unable to live the life that I was born to live. This is a knowing that has arrived from that deeper place where my heart and head are joined as one. While I look out the window at the snow and prepare to run in the frigid air, my soul soars with the heady feeling of blossoming spring trees.
