genesis 8:22

where we live is an outdoor culture. even though we live in a big city, people are just outside more. they eat outside, chat outside, walk everywhere, drink scalding hot tea when it is scaldingly hot outside. every night i can hear the clinking of dishes and utensils as people dine on their balconies. since living here, i've become way more in tune with weather and seasons than ever before. and i like that.

don't get me wrong. i love some central heat and air, but we have to go without here. we have an air conditioning unit in our living room and 4 fans that we carry around with us for the summer time. (and our air conditioning unit actually wasn't working properly until we finally got it fixed in august.) in winter, the same air conditioning unit also acts as a heater. we have 2 space heaters for our bedrooms. other than that, layers are the way of life. it doesn't snow in our city, but it rains a great deal of the winter. so we're wet on top of being cold.

to sum up: we are hot in the summer. we are cold in the winter. and, even though it's not comfortable, it's not that bad. it's kind of interesting to know that our daily lives are truly being shaped by the weather and the current season. in america, seasons and weather are easily escapable. not so much here. even if we are enjoying our air conditioned living room, the kitchen is an oven (BEFORE i turn the oven on), a friend's house may have no AC, and that restaurant where we want to eat may have AC, but no one wants to turn it on fearing they will get sick. so, in some ways, it's just better to not even turn ours on and adjust.

you acclimate. you really, really do. this past summer i got to the point where i found 93 degree weather comfortable. and i will never, ever take a breeze, the power of shade, or the practically-religious experience of splashing cold water on my face for granted again.

all this to say, it was a tough, hot summer. but the tough, hot summer is only making our current 83 degree weather all the more magically delicious. it got down to almost 60 last night. i didn't carry my personal fan around. i wore real pajama pants. i slept under not only the sheet, but the comforter, too. i got chill bumps. it was like a spiritual experience.

i'm really enjoying truly experiencing all the different seasons. they're all so unique. they each have their own, individual characteristics. there's something magical about each one. but i'm definitely most excited about that faint smell of crispness that i noticed in yesterday's air. fall is coming. and i have to admit, fall is the one season that i have no beef's with. i also love winter, but the cold does get old, and here the wet gets really old. spring is nice, but bugs return and allergies emerge. summer is just torturous.

but fall. i find no fault with fall.

i have a sense of loss knowing when we return to the states, the seasons will again be shut out and seen merely as there instead of an experience to be embraced.

and now, for your enjoyment, a pic of my cute kids: