Phase Change

I love the seasons.  I love the wax and wane, the cold and hot, the light and dark, the ups and downs.  When you grow up with seasons, you know that it's OK for life to have highs and lows.

Easter hits home even more deeply as the crocuses push their way through the snow... eventually

As an engineer, poet (dare I say), and resident of the planet who tries to keep his eyes wide open to the countless phenomena of everyday life, every year I find myself absolutely stunned with the lakes.  Today I skated on Lake Wingra, near my house.  The very same place where I practice my swimming in the summer!  It's so extremely different.  People who live in Madison seem to love the summer, and really embrace it - because we know it's short.  To hit the point home, nature doesn't just make summer warm and winter cold, it turns the lake into a completely different substance for half the year!  I'm embracing it for all its forms - and let me tell you, skating across is way faster than swimming.

Being in the middle of a lake is an unusual experience, whether it's in the water or on top of it.  There are few places so flat, so void... and as such, so calm and personal.  Since it's generally not a place designed to sustain (my) life, it's always temporary.  The middle of the lake is a great escape from everything else.  Partially because it takes some doing to get there, so you can be confident that most of your troubles will not have the energy to follow you!  Partially because it tends to be removed from the noise and speed that comes with the otherwise close proximity of so many things.

If you ask me, phase changes to a lesser degree are an essential part of personal fitness.  A good wintertime does the body good, as a chance to recuperate and give contrast to starting again fresh, even if it does yield some freezing over of its own.  Some parts will be reluctant to thaw come springtime, but the seasons are reliable - as such, the seasons will tell you when it's time to sprout your chute that will later become your flower.  There's no need to start before the time is right.  I'm just now feeling the rumbling inside my proverbial bulb, and starting to stir again.  If I hadn't taken the time off, I wouldn't be enthusiastic about starting up again.  And with several months of winter still remaining, what better way to get some exercise - and strengthen some lesser-used muscles - than heading out into the middle of the lake.  One way or another.