I have seasons of the year when it comes to clothes, seasons that coincide with weather trends. I have sweater season in the winter, shorts and short sleeved shirts in the summer. In between I have shorts and sweatshirt weather.

It’s perfect for the in between times of the spring and fall. The spring season is usually fairly short. It takes a long time to warm up. By the time it does, it’s almost summer-like. In the fall shorts and sweatshirts stretch out for a longer amount of time, usually at least a month. This year it continued for almost six weeks.

We had a beautiful October. There were plenty of days with highs in the 60s, a time when the sweatshirts keep me warm. The shorts make it seem like it’s still summer.

Finally it gets to a point where it’s too cold. The mornings are crisp, too cold for shorts. I opt at that point for blue jeans.

By then almost everyone has stopped wearing shorts. I even get some remarks about how I can manage in shorts so late in the fall. It’s comfortable. I rarely dress up, mainly just for funerals and special events. I prefer the comfort of casual clothes.

It shows that we’re blessed with distinct seasons. I think a tropical climate with the same approximate day length and steady temperatures throughout the year would be uneventful.

Even in the winter there are things to enjoy. I don’t enjoy the cold, but it’s nice to keep warm with a good cup of coffee. I don’t care for blizzards, but it’s not bad to relax at home until the weather clears up.

I like the phrase from the Book of Ecclesiastes that says “to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

The changes in the seasons are constant reminders of the phrase. Summer and fall can’t last forever. Winters might be long, but eventually they also fade away.

It’s great to see kids celebrate different types of weather conditions. In the summer it’s swimming pools and trips to the park. In the fall they have the raking of leaves, a chance to jump in the piles and rake them up again. In the winter there are snowmen, snow forts, and sleds.

Part of being happy is to be able to take the weather one day at a time as it comes. Any year in which we go without a flood or a tornado is basically a good year.

We lead very comfortable lives in the 21st century United States when you think about it. We’re insulated from the weather conditions that exist outside.

We have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. It’s hard to imagine the past when the center of winter activity in the home was next to the kitchen stove. We can only guess at what it was like to sleep when the house was hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

It’s possible that we might still get one more day this fall where it warms up and it’s suitable to put on a pair of shorts. It’s not likely, but it’s always possible.

Even if it doesn’t happen, I look forward to what’s coming up. I look forward to spending the holidays with my family. I’ll try to get outside even in the winter, maybe by trying out my cross country skis for the first time in several years.

Hopefully everyone has a similar outlook. There’s a bright side to every season. All we have to do is look around and find it.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent