On Seasons

Last week, at my school's haiku club, the topic of seasons came up. We didn't actually get very far before straying into the wilds of conversational topic areas, but it got me thinking, and I've decided to record my thoughts here.

Haiku has more than four seasons, and they don't follow anything as regular as the solstices and equinoxes. Let's begin at that cliche starting point, Spring.

Early Spring: Those few brief days when the trees go from being barren and twiggy to being leafy and green. Still rather cool, lots of dew in the mornings.

Spring: Flowers! Also rather ephemeral, lasts until temperatures start loitering in the high seventies.

Early Summer: Most of the Spring flowers are gone, temperatures still between 75-85 during the day (the temperature is in Fahrenheit, by the way, not Celsius).

High Summer: Alas! this comes all too soon! Hot, humid, and just generally unpleasant. When the air is dry, this time of year can be pleasant, until it gets dusty. This is also peak thunderstorm season, in places that get thunderstorms.

Fall: The temperature drops, and all the leaves turn pretty colors and fall off the trees.

November: Yes, it actually gets a season to itself. All the leaves are down, but there's no snow. Everything's brown, brown, brown, and sometimes grey.

Early Winter: When it's too cold to go outside without a heavy coat, but there's still no snow.

Winter Proper: Snow!

Mud Season, aka "March": The time between when the snow melts and the trees bud. The name says it all...

And now that I'm through rambling, I'll actually give you some haiku!
.........
only birdsong...
there is no one
at the bus stop
..........
on the asphalt,
a jogger's footprint
dries
..........
Spring and Summer
collide.
late May
..........
small flowers
change the color
of the grass
..........
last year's
political cartoons
are no longer funny
.........