Dividing the year

We’re in a heat wave right when the Abel house wants to start feeling spooky, so I’m thinking about seasons again. Here in southern Indiana, we have a relatively balanced year. Our summers are hotter than our winters are cold but such is the world at this point. I divide up the year in the following way, based on natural patterns rather than holidays or equinoxes/solstices. Spring March through May March is when the spring ephemerals start popping up in the woods. It’s tempting to mark spring by the sap flow, which begins in February but February is clearly–and harshly–a winter month. March is transitional, marked by winds and continuing winter weather but also by days when you can tell the year has turned. By May, the threat of frost has passed and the garden can be fully planted. Summer June through August June is, for me, the most beautiful month of the year around here. It’s fully warm, not hot, and the days are long and hopeful. (October–the other candidate for most beautiful…