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We are about two thirds, give or take, into the calendar season of Autumn, also known as Fall, and like many children become curious and ask questions, especially the ones in the "wh" (who, what, when, where, why, how) category, I find myself, at 73 years young, coming across things that make me question as well. One of these things, which I have lived through for these 73 years, is why some things are called what they are called, like why is Eat & Park called that when you have to Park before you can eat there? One of those things, of a more significant nature,is how the seasons of the year got their names.
First things first, though, we should identify the origin of the word season. One definition is that season comes from the Old French word seison or saison, meaning "planting" or "sowing." Another definition says it has a Latin root going back to the Latin word, satio, meaning "the act of sowing or planting." All of that makes sense, as when people centuries ago used the climate during certain times of the pre-calendar, and then calendar, year as an indicator of when to plant and harvest crops.
For whatever reason the seasons are usually arranged as Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I'm not sure why they are ordered this way, but that's the way it is, and I'm okay with that, and won't mess anyone up by changing it now. So, let's begin by talking about Spring.
The definition of Spring says it comes from the Old English word springan, meaning, "to leap, burst forth, fly up, spread, grow. (Before being called that, it was originally referred to as lent or the Lenten season in Old English.) That makes sense in our hemisphere as during the calendar year in our area, as that's the time of year, when flowers begin to bloom, trees begin to bud, fields are plowed and crops are planted and begin popping up and start their growing phases before the harvest later on in the year.
The season of Summer according to Old English was derived from the word sumor, meaning the warmest season of the year. Again, in our hemisphere summer is usually the season of the most sunshine, resulting in the warmest temperatures of our calendar year.
The name of the third season in our hemisphere, Autumn, came from the Old French word autompne dates back to the 1300s. It is the word used to identify the time of year when the leaves on most trees display the beauty of nature by their changing of colors before beginning to shed their leaves, some flowers return to underground, only to return again, next year, or some die and enrich the soil for other flowers to be planted next year, and it's the time most crop harvests take place. It marks the transition between Summer and Winter, offering cooler temperatures which creates a transition bridge from Summer to Winter. It brings us shorter days, and for some it is their favorite season of the year. Due to the falling of the leaves, and the cutting down of crops, around the 1500s, people began referring to the season as Fall.
The last season in our hemisphere, called Winter, came from an old German word meaning, "time of water," referring to the heavy rains and snow that falls during this season. It is marked by the now bare trees, whose leaves have disappeared, the barren ground where flowers once grew, and much colder temperatures that are prevalent at this time of year. The importance of winter lies in the rain and melting snow that seeps into the ground and helps make fields and grounds moist and fertile for the new beginning, and regrowth of Spring, in March.
Each season brings excitement and offers much to everyone who has varieties of activities, and their own traditions of celebrations during each time of year. There are different holidays that are connected with certain seasons. There are events that are seasonal. There are sports that are seasonal. Many take trips and vacations during certain seasons. Many are hard at work during certain seasons.
The seasons, oftentimes, control parts of our lives, as many of our responsibilities, our planning of special events, our celebrations of special events, and the ways we might want to decorate, clean up, and improve the outside of our homes, may depend, or are influenced, by the seasons.
Each season brings something a little (or a lot) to our lives. Some people in this world choose to live in places where they might only get the conditions of two seasons in a year, and some live where they get to experience all four seasons in the calendar year. (There are times when many of us who live where I live feel like they get to experience all four seasons in one day, a few times during the year too.)
The seasons are most marked by the weather in the places where we live. Mark Twain was once quoted as saying, "A great, great deal has been said about the weather, but very little has ever been done." My interpretation of those words is "it is what it is." We can't change the weather, but we can make changes allowing us to adapt to the weather, enjoy the weather and the activities it brings, and get the most out of whatever weather the seasons of the year bring us.