While spring buds its bright flowers along the coast of California, the lands of Colorado are still being dusted with a generous helping of snow. Further south, in my home country, the leaves are only just being tinged with yellow, and the baby birds are exchanging their soft downy feathers for more sturdy ones.

Not all the world follows a standardised seasonal pattern. Some parts of the Earth have only two seasons: sun and rain; or light and dark. Other places, such as the rainforests of Australia, have a complex variation of seasonal patterns with many more seasons that our own. 

I love that the Colorado mountains are covered in snow for most of the year. It puts me in touch with this odd altitude, allows me to make snowmen more often, and to glimpse wild foxes on the roadways; forces me to stay inside and read twelve chapters of my book.

Besides, a long winter just makes spring all the sweeter, when it finally comes.