seasons change

.... but sometimes they don't.

I never thought I would struggle to adjust to the lack of seasons here. Coming from Texas, we joke about not having seasons. We just have hot, hotter, and a short month of "cold." But here, there really, genuinely are no seasons. There's the rainy season and the dry season, but temperature-wise things are usually only within about 10 degrees of each other. It's the middle of November and its in the 7o's everyday. Sounds great, right? If you know me well (or even have just driven in a car with me), you know that I tend to be very temperature sensitive, so this sounds like an ideal environment.....

Okay, I promise I'm not just rambling about the weather.... the point is in this observation: time goes by differently without seasons. In fact, it flies. There aren't the usual makers that keep time going in a regular pace. I feel like time just takes off running since there are no season changes to hold it back. I arrived in Kampala in May, almost 6 months ago... and because the weather is exactly the same, part of me feels like no time has gone by... That when I got back to the States, it will also still be summer.

Will I feel stuck in summer 2010 forever?

Not sure... I wonder if I just need to find another way to mark the passing of time. I'm just not sure how to do it.... Even though it doesn't feel like fall, I wonder if looking back on this time, fall 2010 will have any distinction from the other seasons I spend here.... When I reference life-events, I usually reference a season a long with it. Like, "my family moved to Houston in summer 2007" or "in the fall of 2008, I was really missing my friend that was studying abroad."

I also think that for me, seasons provide a good reference point for reflecting on how my life has changed. I can think back to last spring and see how much I have grown in a certain area. Or view a new season coming as hope for a new season of life when I'm struggling with something. Right now, it just feels like time is moving along and there is nothing stopping it, so stopping myself to reflect for some reason takes more effort. I don't know if everyone is like this, but I also think of my life in seasons (outside of the weather-changing type of seasons).... seasons of struggles, seasons of feeling beyond blessed, seasons of doubt.... seasons.

I'm not sure if my time will be broken up in seasons here.... Right now, the way I think of it for the most part is in the form of people coming and going... who is living in the Cornerstone basement.... who is my roommate... who is up in Gulu. In Uganda, the seasons stay the same, but the people come and go. So I think, looking back, instead of saying "in fall of 2010, this happened...", I'll be saying "when Emily and James were around..." or "when Jon and Amanda were here..." or "when Brooke lived in Gulu..."

So I guess life-seasons still change, even when weather-seasons don't.... I'll just be thinking of these shifts in terms of people instead of temperature. What an adjustment....