Seasons and a slant of light

The USP duplex (not our house, but our colleagues; we look down at their place from our house--hence the photo)... a couple points to make... 

I don't know that this photograph quite captures it but "there is a certain slant of light".... while we don't have the seasons that mark many North American's calendar, we do have some slight variations.  The big categories are dry and wet season.  But for me, someone who has always loved late afternoon light, there are "light" seasons in Uganda.  Basically, we live on the equator which means 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark. However, I find that it does shift... it can get light by 6:15 am and then beginning to get dark by 6:30 pm....and it can shift and get light closer to 6:45 and stay light until 7:00ish... I haven't figured out which months this happens or what it means exactly, but i know we're now in the season for lovely orange light in the late afternoon. 

So, this is our lovely tree in our yard which has magnificent colors in the bark in rain or shine... but Mary and I always try to find the pink, purple and orange in it-- a concept that I'm glad she understands and enjoys!

As November comes, and I hear and read about fall colors and holidays and snow, I have to say that I, like my mom, do struggle with missing the seasons--especially the cozy ones.  I know this is anathema to all my sunshine loving friends and family, but deep down i'm a melancholy-weather girl.  What's been interesting to me is that my kids who have only grown up in the equatorial sun seem to, at least sentimentally, identify with cozy weather.  I've always assumed that what you grow up with feels "homey", but I'm thinking that like other parts of personality, we do have a connection to our environment that somehow suits us.  

But this topic of seasons and this shot of the duplex, also reminds me of seasons of life.  We have been blessed with many staff members who are also our friends and our community.  This year one good friend/colleague is leaving and we are entering the season of letting her go and preparing for a new person/s.  Other friends/colleagues are also going through big personal seasons of life and you can't help but give deference to the seasons--they will come and go and we will enjoy some more than others.  A favorite Zora Neale Hurston quotation of mine is from Their Eyes Were Watching God; "There are years that ask questions and years that answer them."

For those in North America, I'll get back for a fall one day, but until then soak it up for me. :) And I promise I try to soak up my certain slant of light on a tree that marks this season of life for me!