As I write this, it is almost two weeks into daylight savings time 2026.  My body is getting used to the fact I need another hour’s sleep because I keep waking up at the old 5:00 AM to get ready for work as opposed to the new 5:00 AM.   So basically, I’m waking up at 4:00 AM—an hour earlier, and I can’t get back to sleep.  Cabish?

Thank God for makeup or else this is what I would look like all day due to time change tiredness!

It’s also the time of day when the sun begins a slower descent; reminding us that the days are beginning to get longer.  And, instead of the dark afternoon shadows, the sun is shining in an almost blindingly manner after 5:30 PM.

and the sun sets later and later and later until that first day of summer.

Two weeks ago, we experienced “Fake Spring”.  Those teaser days just before the exit of winter—which makes me wonder, will winter leave us with a quiet Irish exit, or will the coldest season leave us by dropping a wintery mix which some will see as a setback.  The rage bait, if you will, of Mother Nature.

Dear Mother Nature.   I know you are angry due to climate change–so am I, but don’t punish us with teaser days!

The past week has brought humanity out from hibernation. I think because the new season is full of frustration from being pent up indoors—baseball has opening day.  Extracurricular sports are played outside. People are planning their annual plantings for lawns and patios.  More people are spotted, weather temp regardless, in shorts and flip-flops (which I personally save for summer) Much to my chagrin, traffic on the road has gotten worse as well.  Men, thinking they are the greatest things since restaurant-style tortilla chips are taking part in topless afternoon runs.  Keep the shirt on fella.  Your hairy gut is proof that tee shirts were made for you.  Young mothers out with babies in strollers.  School children getting off the bus with a hop to their step and laughing because they know that homework might wait until later.  It isn’t quite yet the gardening moment despite buying bulbs and plantings and the like, but it’s just nice to be outdoors.

Traffic going home from work has increased since winter.  Wait till summer when the Shore traffic hits.  I do not like this.

Even me, as lazy as I am, weather permitting, leave the hospital during lunch to take a stroll around the campus.  We’re on the edge of a county park filled with streams and brooks and it’s just lovely.  My warm-weather walks during lunch are something I look forward to when the cold, windy, biting weather leaves and the warmth of the sun gets closer.   It is my me time.  To be alone. To not have to talk to anyone nor hear anyone.  The sounds I hear are the wheels of bikes on the pavement, the breathing of runners who look miserable while being healthier, and the sounds of birds rustling in soon-to-be leavy trees. Sadly, the past few days have been too windy, and my eyes are incredibly sensitive, so I’ve had to stay in.

I LOVE my walks around the hospital campus.  Sadly, I had only two days to do so since Spring arrived.  And the forecast this week is rain!

And I take advantage of this weather.  For now.  Because I know that next week the Fahrenheit will plummet to the thirties, it could snow or worse—a wintery mix could be bestowed upon us.

In welcoming this new season, we finally took the Christmas trees down, and, when it gets a bit warmer, will tackle the garage.  Spring cleaning.  Purging.  Getting rid of accumulated stuff we haven’t needed for years.  Stuff that I asked the kids if they wanted and, with clear and concise answers, all said “NO” (You know as soon as the stuff is gone, they will be asking “You know that……. from years ago—do you still have it?)

Our next project is purging the garage.  Clothes that no longer fit.  Old holiday stuff that has seen better days.  Suitcases we don’t use.  So much stuff.  We will probably get a junk collector to help us!

But something in my person has shifted.  Could it be I’ve aged out of spring and summer?  Is it possible, I no longer care and want only late autumn and winter back—all year?

With my recent semi-annual skin check, and the stress that goes along with it, I just want to be healthy.  The dermatologist gave me an “A-Okay” for the next six months. But this year, I don’t want to spend hours upon hours in the sun.  I don’t care about lolling about on a blanket at the beach every weekend (But I do care about having a fake tan.  I love tanned legs)—without sounding hypocritical, I do look forward to beaching time this summer but not obsessively.

Not to be a hypocrite but, I still look forward to going to the beach but more to read and less to bake.

Maybe it’s my age.  My soon-to-be 71 years on earth, is tired of the longest days.  Those late spring-into-summer ones where there is no set boundary between day and night.  It was different when the kids were younger.  Late nights in the backyard while m children, and the neighborhood kids played Manhunt and Capture the Flag.  Those nights catching fireflies.  Those hot nights listening to the symphonic cadence of crickets and cicadas.  Those nights of wishing they would never end.

But they did end.  The children grew into adulthood.  They moved away with lucrative careers and families.  And now it’s their time.  History repeats itself and the cycle goes on.

I’m acquiring a renewed fondness for skeletal trees–it’s a winter vibe!

The seasons are shifting for me in my older years.  These days, I prefer the sun bidding a fond adieu as late afternoon turns into darkness.  It separates the days into night.  Although I am not an ambitious person and would rather not work, my job gives me a much-needed routine. My husband and I have a set time for weeknight dinners.  And that routine includes watching Jeopardy at precisely 7:00 PM.  Lights out at 10.  Slumber comes easily.

Our highlights are visiting the kids and grandkids, heading into NYC, and traveling to Paris. So far, our year is planned.  Heading to California in summer for a family event, having family visit before Thanksgiving and hosting a “Pre-Thanksgiving” dinner, leaving for Paris at November’s end, then out to California for Christmas.  I’m already planning our pre-Thanksgiving dinner.  These are the things to look forward to.

Already planning Thanksgiving desserts like this pecan pie that I made some years back when I hosted Thanksgiving!

Don’t get me wrong.  I like the spring season.  In the morning, I enjoy hearing the chirping of birds that have arrived back from the South.  I love the ever-so-gentle sprinkling of green that the buds on the trees are gifting us with.  I love the comfort, finally, of driving barefoot due to the warmer temperatures.  And I appreciate the fact I don’t need a cumbersome, heavy coat when I venture outside.  The best part is not having to drive in the dawn’s darkness to work.   These are all pluses.

It’s just that at this point; I have a new admiration for Winter.  Those cold days where I can be comfy and cozy in the warmth of our home, relaxing on the sofa reading a book and listening to music is what I enjoy.  Being in bed with blankets and comforters in a cocoon like fashion.  A hot cup of tea or cocoa on a weekend afternoon.  Looking out the window at the first snowfall watching the flakes fall on the ground to make a soft, silent blanket of white.  The holidays.

I just want to loll on the sofa with a good book…or..

…the sunroom–with a nice hot beverage!

That said, Autumn remains my least-favorite season simply because summer lingers well into October.  October remains balmy.  Cool mornings and heat in the afternoon.  It doesn’t really begin to chill until November—giving us a window of one month before the return of winter.  And I can’t stand pumpkin spice.  It’s vile!

Pumpkin spice belongs only in pumpkin pie.

What are your opinions?  Have you changed your seasonal outlook as you’ve gotten older?  Will you forever be coastal grandparents?  Or will you be the modern version of Santa and Mrs. Claus?  I would love to know!