Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. I don’t know where the other names originated from but Fall is obvious. It’s the time of year when the leaves fall. October, November and December.
My favorite season used to be summer but that was before I moved to the desert. Now my TWO favorite seasons are Spring and Fall because there’s so much Hawaii-like weather. In summer you just sit there and cook. All the little crtters are hiding in holes they dug underneath rocks. Big rocks, that shield them from the heat.
Winter gets pretty cold. It doesn’t usually snow because this is desert, after all, and deserts aren’t known for having a lot of rain. But a bucket of water set outside will freeze up solid on a really cold night and there’s plenty of cold nights. Nights that you want to remember to turn on a tap and let the water run a little so your pipes don’t freeze up solid and burst.
Not glorious shades of reds and golds in our trees in Fall, which are mostly coniferous pines and gnarly oaks. You need lots of maple trees for that. Most of the oaks are live oaks, anyway. They don’t lose their leaves. The pine trees lose their needles and shed their cones though, and the cones end up rolling down the street and getting under car tires and causing punctures, while the needles have to be raked up the same as you would leaves because they’re really flammable and are a big fire hazard. Pine needles are full of resin and burn like torches.
Ahh but the first Spring day when you can be comfortable outside in a tee shirt is always memorable, and the first day in Fall when it’s cool enough to barbecue some ribs and kick back at the patio table with an iced drink and enjoy an evening outdoors again. Do they make the long winter and long hot summer worthwhile? Hell no, they don’t. They just give you something to look forward to in the meantime.