Near the end of October, we moved from the lake to Sydney, Australia. I think October is low-key the best month on the lake with its cooler days, water still warm enough to swim and zero crowds, but I was still happy to skip fall and jump right back into spring on the other side of the world. Sounds nice, right? Well, for the most part, it is. But, there have been a few things that have been a few surprises, good and bad. 

Wearing my summer wardrobe for an entire year has raised a few issues. I’ve had three pairs of shorts in rotation for that entire time, and it was cut down to two pairs of shorts. While we were at the Australian Open, someone covered my bike seat in the complimentary sunscreen they were handing out at the gate, and I didn’t notice until I got home. No amount of washing could get rid of the grease stain, but hey, you have to love them for giving out free sunscreen. Also, the eight black T-shirts I have in rotation are getting a bit tired. I put on a pink T-shirt the other day for a change and, when my kid saw me, he yelled, “Whoa! Why are you so dressed up?” I have set the bar pretty low when it comes to fashion. 

Without the natural cadence of the seasons, everything has been thrown off. I’ll hear someone mention a date or holiday – any date or holiday from any time of the year – and I’ll think, “is that coming up soon?” Just after we arrived, the Aussies celebrated a huge New Year’s Eve with a massive fireworks display, and I haven’t been able to stop calling it “The Fourth of July” since it happened in mid-summer. 

Soon it will be fall in Sydney, but there won’t be much of a change. It’s pretty warm and sunny all year, which is nice but it compounds the confusion. It’s going to get even worse when the 2024 Summer Olympics start at the height of our winter. It never occurred to me that half of the globe participates in the Summer Olympics during their winter. Or so I thought. I checked into it yesterday, and it turns out that 90% of people on Earth live in the Northern Hemisphere, so it makes sense we’d align the Olympics to the masses. 

So, as the lake enters spring and here we descend into fall, I’m missing the joy that comes with the end of winter and first warm days around the lake. Enjoy the spring at the lake especially, and I’ll try to keep in mind that everything at the lake is probably covered in an inch of pollen, and I wouldn’t be able to breathe even if I were there to enjoy it.