my favorite time of year

 Coming from New York and Tokyo, I can proudly proclaim that I have survived a wild variety of seasons. In New York, it is the freezing winters, when the streets settle into a hush, ice dancing across windowpanes, and car steering wheels too cold to handle with bare skin. In Tokyo, it is the summers, heavy with perspiration and full of a tranquilizing kind of humidity. And then there are the NY autumns--the season of new beginnings and fiery leaves. It would make anyone long for the east coast, I think. One mustn't forget Japan, with its explosion of cherry blossoms in spring, and accompanying celebrations amidst the falling petals--its loud revelry in stark contrast to the dainty pink blossoms that are blooming everywhere.

All of these seasons have their charms. But my favorite these days is the small window when the jacarandas bloom in California. One day, the trees are as green as can be, and the next, they are covered in the most beautiful purple flowers I've ever seen. In a part of the country where seasons are not pronounced--where winter is laughable to the New Yorker in me, and balmy days are to be expected year-round--it is a welcome reminder that time flows here as in everywhere else. Another spring has arrived, and with it, another chance to gently shake myself awake to experience life in the present moment.