Living Seasonally

A recent windy. snowy day

The consensus around town is that this winter has been exceptionally crappy.  We have had snow, freezing rain, sleet, days upon days of sub-zero temperatures, ridiculous wind…and frankly we’re all tired of it.  I’ve been feeling particularly old, achy and tired lately, and if you know me, you know I generally have boundless amounts of energy.  Nora and I have discussed this overall malaise and her take on it is this – we’re meant to slow down during the winter.  From a purely biological perspective, during the 3-4 months of winter (ok, more like 6 months up here, but who’s counting) we are driven to rest (i.e., hibernate) so as to conserve our energy and body heat in times of intense cold, darker days and less food (before we started transporting food thousands of miles to satisfy our desperate need for tomatoes and strawberries in January).  It has the added benefit, or so goes Nora’s theory, of driving us to the brink of insanity with “cabin fever” until we would kill just to get outside in the sun and work, which has us raring to go come spring.  It actually makes sense from a biological and evolutionary standpoint.

But, as with everything, we have messed with it.  Now, the majority of people in the U.S., and in most other developed nations, live in small towns, suburbs or cities where the routine of life carries on pretty much the same regardless of season.  Most of us get up, go to work inside a heated or air-conditioned building, get in our cars and drive home; although the weather may impact our routine to some extent, overall it’s viewed more as an inconvenience than anything else.  In addition, the food we desire is available regardless of month or time of year at the grocery store.  Our days are extended by electric lights, and our need to huddle under piles of warm blankets in the winter diminished by various types of heating systems.  Our need to nap during the intense heat of the day during the summer is equally diminished by the pervasiveness of air conditioning. I’m not saying we don’t note the passing of the seasons – sure we celebrate the “holidays” and kids still get excited about summer vacation -- but we no longer need to abide by the rhythms and dictates of the seasons.

In contrast to this relatively new "normal" way of existing, farmers and gardeners not only understand, but embrace, the natural rhythms of the seasons.  For this small group of people, the seasons strongly impact the "when" and "why" something gets done at the time it gets done.     

Intellectually I knew this, but until we moved up here and started living a more agrarian lifestyle, I didn't fully appreciate it.  However, I noticed last winter that I had begun to keep not just my usual to-do lists (I'm the queen of lists), but rather a seasonal to-do list. It was the only way I could even begin to keep the multitude of things that needed to happen at a certain time straight.  For instance, if I forgot to fertilize the perennials in the early spring, it wasn't something I could just do at some point during the summer.  Ditto with pruning, sowing seeds, planting, harvesting, repairing fences, stocking wood, shearing sheep...you get the picture; everything has its appropriate time.  And I've come to realize, even though I still get incredibly frustrated with the long, long winters in the northeast, that I appreciate this seasonality and this rhythm.  Now if only I could get myself to relax and enjoy the slow winter period, everything would be wonderful!