Seasons Greetings

This will peg me as a California girl for sure, but I have to admit I've never really understood the seasons before. Winter lasts until March? Summer doesn't begin until late June??? I just always figured that the seasons were kind of... off. Maybe so they'd match up with the solstices? Honestly, I never really gave it very much thought.

Even in Sacramento, where we have something approaching seasons and temperature variations, it just didn't always make a lot of sense. And southern California? Forget about it. Everyone knows that the winter is the best time for the beach.

So imagine my surprise upon realizing that there may be some factual basis for our seasonal lore. Take for example the idea that March "comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb". Although I could always understand generally what this would mean, I had certainly never experienced it and, I think, got it into my head that the people who make these things up have somewhat of a penchant for exaggeration.

The one age-old saying I did not find to be true here in Madrid was the classic "April showers bring May flowers". I was hopeful, but it turned out that the April showers just brought more showers.

In any case, I'm still waiting for summer.