Chattanoogans are fortunate to live in a climate of four distinct seasons. Recently, my son and his wife, Ralph and Jackie Mohney, took her mother, Mary Gilbreath, and me on a trip to Blue Ridge, Ga. Certainly the colors of changing leaves have never looked so festive to me – soft yellows and reds and even russet.
I thought of a quotation from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “God’s World”: “Thou hast made the world too beautiful this year.” Soon I found myself saying, “I hope I don’t die in the fall. The world is much too beautiful to leave.”
Yes, winter follows quickly after fall, but winter also has its joys. There are all the holidays with their festivities and family gatherings. We often go from a warm Thanksgiving Day to a brisk Christmas or New Year’s Day. Even on a simple snowy day, who can resist curling up and finding a good book to read? No, I don’t want to die in the winter.
Then I thought of springtime, when everything springs into new life. Jonquils and crocuses speak of hope and new beginnings. There is a feeling of starting fresh; everything seems clean and full of promise. There is no place for gloom and doom. Even our farfetched dreams seem possible. No, I don’t want to leave that place of beauty.
Well, if I don’t want to die in the fall or winter or springtime, what’s left? Only summer, which provides a place of individual beauty. But who wants to leave the long, hazy days of summer with its soft greenery and long evenings?