falling leaves & flowering trees
Experiencing all the colors of the wind.
There’s a suffocating sensation in the humid air of the ever-warm South Florida climate. Down south, the temperature ranges from mildly chilly to warm to hot to the illusion of being boiled alive in a large pot of salt water, slowly simmering under the tide. It’s what some adore about the place and what made me detest it after so many years dripping in a feverish sweat.
I’ve had strangers claim that I am ungrateful for being able to make the choice to leave a state with a year-round warm climate. How ignorant to believe that a stagnant environment is what natural beauty is. My few years in Ann Arbor have taught me that many who grew up with the mesmerizing magic of drastic seasons are unappreciative of how special what they have is. I guess that’s how lifelong Michiganders feel about my situation, unappreciative of everlasting warmth (Though I definitely appreciate Florida’s ecological diversity and am always excited to be a temporary visitor). Yet, I am a firm believer that most Michiganders would get sick of South Florida after the third year in a row without significant seasonal changes.
Would you trade experiencing the transformative power of mother nature just for the ease of never having to wear a coat again?
I experienced my first true fall in 2019. Every late afternoon I made an effort to go on walks for at least an hour, mesmerized by all of the colors and life. About every block, my walk would be interrupted by a fascinating detail on my path. A brilliant flower, a hummingbird, bunnies munching on grass, a pile of blinding yellow leaves; everything was enchanting. Strolling through neighborhoods with flower-adorned lawns and giant trees made the environment become my own little fairy town. I felt so small amongst these magnificent beauties, these patches of nature within a moderately busy city.
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When winter came rolling in, I only became more enamored with the world around me. Snow falls from the sky in a gentle stream, sticking to the ground and reuniting with its fellow frozen droplets of precipitation.
Every surface becomes draped over with a glittery curtain of white. The immediate consequence of a snow storm results in the clouds literally falling to the ground. The snow sparkles; it smells pure. The sensation of crushing snow beneath my feet is somehow even more satisfying than crushing fallen leaves. Nearly everyone in my life told me the winter would be intolerable but in actuality, winter remains one of the most beautiful natural processes I have ever witnessed.
January 2021: Momo admiring the snow
Despite Florida not having snow or severe drops in temperature during what are meant to be the winter months, the season still shares similarities with my home state. I see Florida in the bare trees, whose empty branches are reminiscent of the coral reefs I’ve snorkeled above. With the gray sky, winter almost feels like being in an underwater world where the clouds lay beneath our feet and the surface is far beyond a horizon we could reach. Maybe this correlation contributes to my feelings of adoration for most peoples’ least favorite season.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic sending me home in March of my first year at the University of Michigan, I did not experience a full spring until 2021. At this point, I thought my appreciation for the changing world couldn’t grow. I was unfathomably wrong. Every single day I would embark on my late afternoon stroll, purposefully taking the same route in order to observe the new growth of flora. I was blown away by the speed at which my surroundings changed. Each week, there were more flowers, the grass was greener, and more trees began to bud. Spring was the season I spent the most time observing plants, bending close to the ground to be at eye level with the magical beings that seemed to grow by the minute.
Now that I have been able to experience the four true seasons in all their glory, I cannot fathom ever living in a place of stagnant weather again. Every few months feels like a refresh as the earth takes on new forms. The variety of stunning sights are so impressive it’s difficult for me to find the words to adequately describe their sheer power. My soul has become attached to the ecological shifts of life, warming and cooling in wondrous patterns.
As the seasons change, so do I, evolving into various versions of myself equally enthralled by the charm of an alternating environment.
Spring 2021: Growth of leaves over the span of a single month from April 14 to May 14. Watching the trees bud and flower to ultimately grow leaves once more is one of the most enchanting things I have yet to witness.