seasons

seasons fascinate me. they're one of the main reasons i love pittsburgh. we have the pleasure of encountering the characteristics of every season throughout the year. summer is hot, winter is cold, fall and spring are transitory. it's beautiful to experience them all and they all have different memories associated with them.

fall provides pennsylvania with some of the most incredible scenery. driving across the state in october provided a miraculous display of colors spread across the hills and mountains. i can't help but carry around a camera between september and november in hopes of catching just the right autumn scene. fall gives you it's own beginning, associated with the beginning of the school year. it gives you new hope for a new academic year as well as reconnection with friends who have been gone for some or all of the summer. playing football in the backyard and going to games as a child, then as a teen, then as an adult are vivid memories.

winter may provide some of my favorite memories. six inches of snow can change the appearance of everything. for some it means a hectic drive to work, but for others it simply means a walk home so quiet that you can hear the snow landing on your shoulder. my fondest winter memories, besides the obvious playtime in the backyard as a child, are of riding bikes with andy and mike to centre plaza for weekend hangouts. i still remember the night i met, or became closer friends with, many of my current best friends today; riding up to centre plaza in the cold and watching the killers perform "when you were young" on snl. that winter of 07-08 provided many jaunts to shadyside, often too cold to have actually considered the bike rides we took.

spring is the awakening. nature is done with it's season-long nap and everything is in full bloom. we are given that fresh start we've been hoping for and, for pitt students at least, the schoolwork seems almost over. remembering what it's like to play basketball outdoors is a welcomed struggle. how warm does it have to be to wear shorts outside again? 40? people are abuzz in the streets because it doesn't hurt your face to avoid the scarves anymore.

and then there's summer. childhood was filled with 9 months of pining after the summertime. let's finish school, let's go out and play. to a point, it remains true your whole life. grilling out, playing wiffleball in the backyard, and spending nights with a beer and a friend on your porch are all you need to enjoy the heat.

every season provides a re-awakening, a fresh start. they're distinct in their own ways and keep life from being monotonous for the whole year. different music can be associated with different seasons. right now is the bright eyes season and soon we'll be transitioning to death cab. sure, there are negatives to the heat of the summer or the cold and snow of the winter, but where would i, or we, be without those benchmarks to remember times past?