in the unlocking

in 1978, Kurt Vonnegut gave the commencement speech at Fredonia State College in upstate New York. in the speech, Vonnegut suggested to the graduating class that the traditional four seasons don’t make sense for northern areas of the country. i agree entirely with the sentiment and his description is perfect too. here’s what he said:

One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize that there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time. I mean, spring doesn’t feel like spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for autumn, and so on.

Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June. What could be springier than May and June? Summer is July and August. Really hot, right? Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves? Next comes the season called Locking. November and December aren’t winter. They’re Locking. Next comes winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold!

What comes next? Not spring. ‘Unlocking’ comes next. What else could cruel March and only slightly less cruel April be? March and April are not spring. They’re Unlocking.

ice covered crabapple branch