Love is so often metaphorically expressed as the seasons. The beginning of a beautiful love appears in the spring. Every little thing we do together is bright and shiny and new. We can't get enough of each other and our love blooms as we explore and deepen our relationship. Then the summer comes, with its hot sticky heat. It makes us lazy. We form a pattern in our interactions and are too lazy to change. We are comfortable with each other and we can predict the other's movements and reactions. There is no more fun left in discovery. The fall then arrives and the leaves change color and drift to the ground just like we drift apart. The chilly air slices through the night and you begin to annoy me just as I become a bother to you. The spring flowers wilt as our bitterness grows until the winter comes. The warmth is sucked out of our bodies and we fight with every tooth and nail and claw. You break my heart and I break yours. There is no patience left, no good will to work things out. And with the winter comes a blanket of snow around my heart making it cold and frigid, hoping another spring will warm it up again.