Tuesday 29 April 2014

TOPSY-TURVY SEASONS


“Even God cannot change the past.” - Agathon

Having grown up in the Northern hemisphere and living for most of my life in the Southern hemisphere, my mind and body are still confused and have never really adjusted to the contrariness of the seasons. I still find it easy to slip into the Northern summer when I visit there, while Christmas in Summer, Downunder, still somehow doesn’t feel right.

The first explorers and colonists to cross the equator and experience these topsy-turvy seasons must have been even more flummoxed. I suppose the longer I live under Australian skies, the more I shall adapt, but I have found that even true-blue Aussies born and bred here still find it easy to slip into a Northern hemisphere mentality when they visit the UK, say. I suspect that tradition, culture and race memory may well have something to do with it…

May is nigh, May is coming
The sweetest month of Spring.
May is coming full of roses
April fragrant, full of posies.
May my darling, cooling May
April flowery, months so gay.
                        Greek Season Rhyme

2 comments:

  1. I think you are absolutely right. I've made the opposite journey to you - born and raised in Australia, then moving to Sweden as an adult and while I do have moments of confusion (eg thinking it must be Christmas soon when I see daffodils start blooming) for the most part I found it easy to slot into the Northern hemisphere seasons. Christmas especially is wonderful, with darkness, snow, lots of candlelight, mulled wine, twinkling lights, spicy baking - exactly like the white Christmases I’d seen in movies, on television in books and on every Christmas card I’d ever received. I can see why our summer Christmas could seem very odd to someone not born there.

    As for summer - well, I'm still waiting after all these years for "summer". I've never seen the temperature go over 28C (and that only briefly), which is more spring weather in my hometown of Adelaide. However, there is the 24 hours of daylight in summer to compensate for the lack of warmth and of course having four distinct seasons is a joy.

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  2. Must be hard to adjust all the traditional seasonal festivals to a different season

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