Spring in the Tropics
An Antithesis, A Different Rhythm
The four seasons phenomenon has always astonished me. Living in the tropics, it has always been a two cycle season —- wet and dry. Though winter remains a dream, we have spring.
May is in full swing, so is spring. But here in the tropics, our version of spring offers a compelling antithesis to what it is in the temperate world.
Classic spring symbolizes life’s pauses and restarts while spring here reflects life’s uninterrupted flows.
While spring is a dramatic resurgence from the cold, brazen months of winter, spring here is a soft continuity from the hot, humid months of the year’s first months, connoting the steadiness and unbroken cycle of growth and vitality. The sun becomes warmer. Flowers such as fire tree blooms and bougainvilleas smile brighter.
There is no dramatical shift, only the beauty of constancy.
In the absence of traditional spring, the shifts in this season are more subtle in nature. For instance, birds and butterflies flutter their wings more giddily in tropical spring. Some tropical fruits, though available most of the year are most abundant this season such as bright, yellow mangoes. Though we generally do not experience longer days or nights, the sun sets a little bit later and wakes up perhaps, after a snooze or two. But never in extended hours.
While classic springs ushers summer, tropical spring signals the coming of rain.
After months of heat and dry spell, we are ready to welcome the rain —- a symbol of the ever-present life force, a reminder of the need for rhythm and balance.
Instead of “springing back to life,” it is more of “steadying the flow of life.”
While there is no winter shadow to fade or cold frosts to retreat from, trees here are perpetually clothed in green, their canopies kept dense and full of life. Though void of stark definitions, tropical spring seamlessly blends with the rest of the year’s season, reminding us that there is strength and beauty in what is constant.
Bougainvillea in bloom, orchids in fuschia hue.
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A beauty of a read. Thank you.