Showers and Flowers

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The idiom “April showers bring May flowers”, although meaning that everything happens for a reason (circle of life).  “Good” reason in true sense with the circle of life.  The weather and its seasonality displays the utmost discipline to seasonal reasoning.  If you live around the Chicago area, you will experience the glory of all four seasons; summer, fall, winter and spring.  Year after year, the experience of each season, the dramatic changes to the landscape, people’s dress code. Different smells of each of the changing season every year, and the psychological impact on people in each season.

No one season makes everyone (anyone) happy.  People always have the adage of; too cold, too hot, too windy, too muggy, too much rain, too much snow, and too much of something or the other with the weather.  We seldom have the reference to a perfect day for everyone.  Children have perfect days when on holidays and adults when simply lazing around.  But the psychology of our reaction to weather is always changing, just like the weather itself.

The obvious observation of weather changes and clothing and the businesses and malls gearing for seasonal attractions to bring in the people back to buy again and again.  It is amazing how each family loads up on the same stuff every season, and kept interested in buying same stuff year after year.  The special references to the parts of the nation where the weather is seasonal, and the need to dress for the weather.  Not to forget the cars and automobiles that get winterized and sort of get reintroduced to the warm weather.  What would happen to the snow based business and back to summer, and keep the cycle going.

Seasonal Businesses are quite adept to their part of the year.  Each season and its support services, the quick adopting to the quick changes to the environment is as simple as the seasons themselves.

Simply experiencing the weather and watching the four seasons in full splendor itself is magical.  Although the experience of hot, cold, wind, rain or whatever is bestowed on us daily, it is what it is.  We can’t control the elements.

We have worshipped and memorialized the weather thru out human history.  Hindus worship every element on earth.  The appreciation and acceptance as the weather happens is probably simplest way to live, as there is not much that can be done about what the day brings.

While we enjoy, and experience the seasons, the appreciation can certainly be in form of respect for the nature and conditions around us.  Weather patterns don’t change in short term, they are long lasting and long running.  The trash we throw and the fuel we burn is only about a 100 year in breakneck speed.  We know the history of the world shows long cycles of nature’s behavior, and the last 100 years has been the poorest in the treatment of nature.  We can stop the abuse, and allow the nature to take its natural course.  While millions of species have become extinct because of humans, we can slowly reverse the destruction of nature, and keep the four seasons flourish and allow people to experience forever.