seasons

Being a Wisconsinite I have been spoiled by the idea of four seasons. My mom's best friend moved down to Arizona two years ago from Wisconsin. Her children will telling me how much they missed all the seasons and how Christmas really didn't feel like Christmas without the snow. After they showed me the depressing picture of their attempt of a Christmas tree cactus, I had to imagine what a snow less holiday season would be like.Try harder to even imagine a Halloween or Thanksgiving without leaves changing colors and creating big colorful blankets on the grass.

Thinking back on my childhood holidays the environment and aroma's are what come to my mind first. Racking leaves for the neighbors for a little extra cash, the cold breeze in my face with my wind burned nose, the fog steaming up your glasses whenever I got inside, and that initial burning of your tongue and throat from drinking my hot cocoa to early. Even with winter having snow ball fights with the neighbors and sledding down their what seemed to have been massive at the time hill, my entire face being flush red, my hands being frozen even though I was wearing gloves because somehow snow always managed to get inside them.

I can't imagine spending the holidays anywhere but my home...Wisconsin, just trying to imagine how my family friend's kid's celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years without all the seasons that tag along respectively...it honestly saddens me. I personally believe kids need to experience wearing their coats under their Halloween costume because it gets so cold at night, or having a snowball fight, or watch the first snow fall, or the the breath taking view of the fall foliage. Can you imagine the magic of the seasons without all of  mother nature throwing you for a curve every step of the way?

Communication

I'm starting to realize the gap between people when they communicate through texting vs. on the phone or in person. I've had fights start because people miss interpreted texts or not even having a place to sleep all because of the brick wall we run into when we text. Thing that really kills me is the fact that we even take on a alias when we text, we have enough time to actually think about our response is going to be....does this lead to awkward face to face conversations?

Sexuality

As I was sitting on Facebook basically playing therapist while my friend just sits there and vents to me about his sexual struggles I thought to myself......what cause's a person to have this mind set? I'm not one to knock other peoples religions but no matter what religion you grow up with in your life it does play a role in your moral values an outlook on life does it not?

"I'm no longer attracted to either gender much, but I am having strong romantic attractions for women, and no attractions for men" this coming from the guy that just last week was telling me what he thinks are the perfect characteristics for his future male lover to have. I know his parents are deeply religious and when he came out to them they sent him to years of counseling to hopefully "cure" him, but if all those years of therapy didn't change his sexuality then; why is it changed now? Could he just be searching for acceptance from his family? or possibly feel that if he remains gay God wont love him? 

Then he continues to go on with that there is no correlation between sexual attraction and emotional attraction, "if you can find the emotional attraction in a person which gender they are does not matter"....this is where he looses me. Now I have a few girlfriends they will change in front of me give me a kiss on the cheek but you don't see me getting aroused by them just because I was emotionally attracted to them in the first place which made us friends. Personally what goes on in your head and in your pants are two way different things....(I'd be very interested to hear a counter arguement)

Now I can happily say I have never been raped or molested by either one of my parents and that I also have a good relationship with my parent of the same sex. So as he sits here telling me that all gays are gay because of these reasons I'm thinking to myself.....well I was never touched by someone at a young age and my dad and I get along great.......where to I tie in? "well they just have not found God".......well what about the gay's that don't believe in God? 

Situations like this really makes me wonder how much does the perspective of homosexuals really have to do with "nature vs nurture". Are we born gay/lesbian or are we taught or forced into being gay/lesbian? my personal theory/ quote is "sexuality isn't just black and white, there are more shades of gray then there are black or white"