Temperature Changes

My spring break experience was mostly marked by a turn in the weather. I have never liked winter and I absolutely hate being cold, so the temperature these past few months have been unfortunate for me. Spring break was the time I finally found myself waking up and not feeling freezing cold. The way I saw the temperature change could be marked in two different ways: through the” natural” world—or the way flowers have been blooming, or how pollen has begun falling from the trees outside my house like snow—and the “synthetic” world of spring fashion. There seemed to be a dramatic change in the way people around me and myself have been dressing, from bundled coats and bulky sweatshirts to tank tops and shorts. I can say I was absolutely thrilled to get to wear dresses and skirts again. Along with the good I perceived through the synthetic way of thinking about the seasonal change, there came negative effects. Warm weather means air conditioning bills and getting sunburned if I forget to bathe in sunscreen each day. The “natural” perception I had over the break was most certainly characterized by the trees outside my house. My roommate left the week before spring break, and by the time she came back, she noted that she had never seen the trees directly in front of house look so vibrant before. I was shocked to see the difference from the brown sweltering leaves I had seen last summer or the dead barren branches that had marked all of fall and winter. The trees were green and beautiful, but also coating my car in greenish brown pollen. The down side was the negative way my allergies responded.
I would love to say I got to explore nature a little further than just the weather change, but I did not get to visit the beach so far, or even the park. Most of my spring break was spent working doubles at work, so the only way I could actually mark the interactions of the natural and synthetic worlds was through very trivial accounts. This included the amount of tourists that visited the restaurant I work at, or the amount of Claritin I had to take to not get sick from pollen. It also includes how dirty my car looks coated in the same pollen giving me migraines, or the red tint to my skin from spending even a few minutes outside. Although it all sounds so very negative, I absolutely love the spring and this hot weather and I cannot wait to actually be able to get outside.