My first memories of the Summer Season are of Oysterville, beginning in 1939. And still they continue all these years later — though not with quite so many dandelions. (I wonder how many of the wishes we made when blowing those puffballs really did come true?)

I know. I know. Other people probably remember more yearly seasons than I do. Especially if they grew up in an area where there was snow! And real winter. The kind that only a few of my friends in Alameda, California had ever experienced. For one thing, it was during World War II. Gas was rationed. Rubber was rationed. Hardly anyone had a car so even if they could have gone to the mountains for a snow trip, it didn’t happen. Not for kids in my neighborhood.

So, mostly our years were divided into two uneven parts: School Season and Summer Vacation Season. And that’s how I still think of the seasons, even here on the Long Beach Peninsula. Granted, there was more rain between Thanksgiving and Saint Patrick’s Day and maybe it was a little bit colder. But as kids, we didn’t think much about the temperature (or, truth to tell, listen very closely to our moms saying “Wear your jacket!” as we headed outside to play.) My mom often complained that I hadn’t been equipped with an internal thermostat.

And that was another thing — it didn’t hurt any that from Feb. 9, 1942 until Sept. 30, 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt declared that we would have continuous Daylight Saving Time! I don’t remember a single day of the School Season that we couldn’t play outside until dinnertime and sometimes afterwards, too! When it rained, which wasn’t all that often (at least in my memory), I often curled up in the living room with a good book — maybe a Nancy Drew mystery — but if the rain stopped, we were all outside in a flash.

Pull Quote

When the School Season was over, I headed north to Oysterville to spend the summer with my grandparents while my mother and father were working “for the war effort.”

When the School Season was over, I headed north to Oysterville to spend the summer with my grandparents while my mother and father were working “for the war effort.” During the Summer Vacation Season, I remember endless sunny days spent down at the bay, picnics at the ocean or Loomis Lake or over on Long Island if one of the adults wasn’t too busy to take us. And almost every kid in town had a horse and sometimes I’d get a chance to ride. The few rainy days were spent playing board games or “helping” Aunt Rye at the Heckes House make cookies or having a taffy pull at Grandma Wachsmuth’s.

The Four-Season Viewpoint

I actually enjoyed my two-season delusion until I retired. It helped that I had spent my career as a teacher and so the Seasons still seemed properly, though unevenly, divided by two. But once I no longer had a School Season, there didn’t seem much need for a Vacation Season and so I began to look at the world through less rosy glasses. For one thing, that missing internal thermostat had mysteriously made itself known BIGTIME. I seemed to be cold all the time — which my doctor assured me was just the “perception” of being cold. Well, duh! Aren’t all of those “how you feel” things simply perceptions? And, goofing off down at the bay or having taffy pulls were sadly relegated to memories of “child’s play.” Plus, going on vacations could happen almost any time. So much for the Summer Vacation Season.

Gradually, I have come to accept the four-season concept, even though our seasons here along the coast don’t have as much true definition as other places. Over time I have been fortunate enough to experience the “Great Blizzard of 1947” in Boston, to visit the glories of “Autumn Color” in New England, to enjoy the gentle beauty of the cherry blossoms on the University of Washington campus in the spring, and survive the unbelievable heat in the Mojave Desert in summer. I definitely “get” the seasons and, too, I realize that climate change is probably messing with the ramifications of earth’s tilting axis.

Even so, I found our entrance into spring 2024 worth thinking about. For one thing, according to Space.com, the vernal equinox brought spring to the contiguous United States the earliest in 128 years! Partly that is due to this year being a leap year and part of it is due to Daylight Saving Time having begun on March 10. Who knew? There is a ton of scientific and historic information available about all of this online, but from my point of view, it just seems like we are nudging back to fewer seasons — just like I remember from years ago.

And yes, I know mine is a simplistic point of view. But so is Punxsutawney Phil’s (who, it turns out, doesn’t even need to see his shadow — he just needs to cast one!) This year he cast no shadow on Groundhog Day, which is a clear prediction for an early spring! So, there you have it!