Seasons come and Seasons go yearly. (7-18-21)

Seasons Come and Seasons Go Yearly

By: Carrie Keiser

It was that time again, Milly was headed to the Bob Marshall Wilderness hunting for the elusive elk. She had the horses saddled and the pack mules rigged up, everyone was ready. Everyone except Milly, she was considering maybe not going this time. Each year the same routine: load up the animals and gear, spend a week horse-backing through The Bob in search of the monster elk. She had been doing this for 3 years and only once caught a glimpse of the elk herd. Maybe she should try Yellowstone, Glacier or Alaska, but those areas are the common places for world class nature photographers to go.  The Bob Marshall Wilderness is an untapped treasure trove of beauty and natural wilderness. No, she’d go, this time, this season’s turn, she would find them and get the shots. 

 There is a flash and the scene changes….

“Seasons come and seasons go yearly. Seasons come and seasons go yearly.” Milly repeated the mantra out of habit. By now she had given up on things actually changing. They had promised her when she was captured 3 years ago that, with the changing of the seasons, she would be returned. Spring turned to summer and that led to fall and finally winter and repeat for 36 months. She has been stuck in this room, just waiting. She’d never been good waiting. 

Jaspen looked into the room through the tiny window and watched as Milly wandered the small room, 15 steps by 15 steps, with a bed, small partition hiding the bathroom facilities; toilet, sink and shower. He wondered why she hadn’t gone insane like the others they had taken 3 years ago. What makes Milly different?  

Paxon walked up behind Jaspen and slammed his hand against the door startling both Jaspen and Milly.  Paxon didn’t care about why Milly was still around, he just did his job and didn’t ask questions. And right now he and Jaspen had orders.

Another flash, a new story plays out…

Milly looks out the window of her mountain home, there’s a beautiful lake surrounded by the stately mountains of western Montana. Oh how she loves Montana! She can’t pick a season, fall turning to winter and winter moving to the promise of spring and rebirth and finally to summer to complete the circle. Seasons come and seasons go yearly. To walk through the trails and see the animals under each different season is a treasure that brings a smile to Milly’s face. She closes her eyes and pictures the tails around her home covered in snow, then the flowers blooming and enjoying the lake in the heat of summer and watching the leaves change. It’s so peaceful here in nature.

A light pulse and bam…

A teenage girl sits in a room watching a screen and every 5 mins the scene changes offering her a glimpse into a future she can choose. Suddenly the room is filled with a robotic voice telling Milly that it is time to choose her future. Seasons come and seasons go yearly. Choose wisely, Milly.

Cycle of Seasons

By: Myrna Flynn

I will start with winter, Which the starting date is set as December 21st. Sometimes it begins with blizzards and sometimes with mildness. Some times we see snow that comes to stay in October, sometimes not until January, February or March, which seems to be the norm now. When I was a kid, we had 4 to 5 feet of snow every year. Which meant lots of snow forts, sledding and ice skating. We used to get old tires and wood to make a bon fire to get warm by after ice skating. My brothers, my friends and I would jump off our roof into snow piles.

Next comes spring that is supposed to arrive on April 21st with lots of rain to ready the ground for planting peas and for flowers in May. This year the rain did not come very often and when it did, it was mostly sprinkles.

Now, comes summer on June 21st. For the last previous summers, the temperatures stayed in the 80's and 90's but this year we are having what I call a normal Ephrata summer, temperatures in the high 90's and in the hundreds. So far, our hottest day was 115. The ground is drying up into a drought.

Last, but not least in my opinion, fall. Fall is my favorite season especially  when it lasts into what is known as an Indian summer. The temperature stays in the high 50's and 60's to the mid 70's and no colder colder at night than the 30's. The leaves fall to the ground, and I an still a kid, I guess because I like to kick my feet through them.Also, Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, is in the fall.

Seasons come and season go yearly, but the Bible says that the time will come when we cannot recognize the seasons, which will be sad and maybe scary because that is one sign that the end of time is near. 

SEASONS COME AND SEASONS GO ... YEARLY

by: Daren Flynn

7/16/21

Seasons come and seasons go.

And there's nothing we can do 

But go with the flow.

As Winter gives way to Spring

We smile and anticipate

The changes it will bring.

Then comes Summer with it's heat.

Vacations, picnics and more

Provide us with a treat.

Fall is a colorful time.

Yellows and brows of every hue

In the northern clime.

Then the next shuffle and deal

Will bring Winter sports galore,

But to some they may not appeal.

So the years come and the years go.

Sometimes they seem to rush by,

But some years go slow.

It's all part of a great plan

Of orderly rotation

For the enjoyment of man.

Seasons come and seasons go—yearly.

By: Colleen Holmquist

The problem with seasons is that while they may come and go yearly—they are not dependable.  Not every season shows up every year but there is always another waiting in the wings or sky or underground to take its place.  Some seasons are like drivers at roundabouts—unable to address the question “to go or not to go?” Some seasons are like atrial fibrillation—no rhyme nor reason to the cycle.

There are growing seasons, hurricane seasons, migration seasons, tourist seasons, off-seasons, baseball seasons, rainy seasons, ski seasons, dry seasons, school seasons, fire seasons, mating seasons, hunting seasons, television seasons, peach seasons, flu seasons, seasons of war and seasons of peace, diaper seasons…

Why, 1990 was a season of birth into mortality for the greater Holmquist family: four babies were born that year.  But it was more than twenty years before that season cycled back around.

1996 was the season of passage to the Spirit World for the Voglers—Gramma, her brother and sister and grandson.  We haven’t seen another season like that since.  I’m sure we will, though.

The summer of 2000 was a terrible fire season for Western Montana and Northern Idaho and that’s a season that comes back yearly—but often in another place like Oregon and Arizona. California has a fire season yearly—sometimes it lasts most of the year!  (One of the many reasons I don’t like there.)

 

So, I look forward yearly with a degree of trepidation to the seasons coming and going