Seasons Change

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring." - George Santayana

"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance." - Yoko Ono

I have a theory.

People accustomed to seasonal changes have an advantage over us one season folks.

We often complain about how boring life in Singapore can be.

I say blame it on the weather.

Its always the same here. Hot, hot, hot. Maybe some rain. Then the heat comes back.

The monotony of it all.

Our fortunate friends who live in more frivolous conditions enjoy so much more. A classic coronation chicken for the summer and a bowl of hot caramelised onion soup for the winter. There's the summer games and the winter sports. A cool cotton shirt in the summer and a wooly mitten for winter. The shedding of leaves and the shovelling of snow. A cool swim in the summer and a warm fire in the winter.

Seasons tell us there is a time for everything. Listen to the Byrds (they took this from the Bible) who sing:

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

I sometimes feel that living in stuffy Singapore, I am slightly less aware of the passing of time, slightly less appreciative of Nature and enjoying slightly less variety in my humdrum existence.

I miss Shanghai.