2026 04 27

X marks the spot. White Pines Forest State Park. Oregon, Illinois. May, 2025 © Clayton Hauck

A few weeks back, we decided to rank the seasons in order of our favorites. At the time, my list was:

1. Spring

2. Fall

3. Summer

4. Winter

Since then, my allergies have kicked into full gear and I would like to revisit and revise my Official List to this:

1. Fall

2. Summer

3. Winter

4. Spring

Jokes aside, I think this actually touches on an interesting point. I like to romanticize things based on their strongest properties. In my head at the time, I loved everything about spring: the rebirth and renewal, the return to life, growth, reintroduction of colors, plants, and animals; it’s a fresh start. In practice, however, spring is a sloppy mess and I can hardly function half the time because I’m congested.

I think this is a nice observation that I need to keep in mind when deciding on major life choices. Oftentimes, the efforts required aren’t worth the rewards.

-Clayton