Turn, turn, turn

This whole changing seasons thing is fascinating.

I know that sounds weird. I spent the first 24 years of my life in the Midwest, where there are four distinct seasons. In Indonesia, there was a rainy season and a dry season, but where we lived the two tended to blend together. We lived near Bogor, affectionately (or not) known as the Rain City. It averaged something like 335 thunderstorms per year, and since it was about 10 minutes down the road, we shared a lot of its weather.

There's nothing like a tropical thunderstorm in the hills of Sentul. The lightning posed the only real danger, but as long as a person wasn't standing outside with a metal pole, there was no major threat. (As for appliances and electronics...well, you might remember that we lost a brand new desktop computer to a particularly mean-spirited lightning strike.) The thunder, unlike any I've ever heard, would shake the very foundations of the houses. Usually the storms occurred later in the afternoons and evenings, but occasionally one would roll in before school let out for the day and the sky would grow so dark that the automatic light-sensitive lamps in the courtyard would turn on. The rain would come in violent torrents, and usually the storm would pass as quickly as it had arrived. I always said I loved the tropical thunderstorms so much because there was no need to worry about tornadoes.

Anyway, it's been three years since we've experienced any real seasonal change. Sure, we came home to visit for our first two Christmases, but there wasn't any changing of seasons--when we got on the plane in Jakarta it was warm and by the time we got to our second-to-last stop in Chicago, it was obscenely cold. When we went to Istanbul we experienced gorgeous spring weather, but again--no actual, gradual change. When we got on the plane in Jakarta, it was hot. When we got off the plane in Istanbul, it was chilly and drizzly.

For the past few days I've watched the Weather Channel with newfound fascination. It's getting cooler! Like, a LOT cooler! And the weirdest thing? It's going to stay that way for a while. I had no idea that something I'd taken for granted for all of my life would seem so amazing after having missed out on it for three years. I can't wait for fall. I feel like a little kid. I'm going to step on every crunchy leaf I see, and drink apple cider and carve pumpkins...and I'm going to appreciate every minute of it.