Fall for Summer

An introspective look at love through the seasons. 

By: Eleanor Peterson

Photo of Bellingham, WA, by staff photographer Elsa Aitchison.

6/29/23

“I went out for drinks tonight with a guy. I just wanted to let off some steam and act impulsively for a night. We had a good time together. I think he really likes me. I need to be clear about my own boundaries with myself and others. I want to have fun but also work to better myself.” 

Bellingham in the summer is the kind of place that makes you think about love.

When I first moved here, I was instantly struck by how romantic the scenery and atmosphere is. The sprawling mountains and forests against the backdrop of a blue sky on a sunny day set the perfect scene for romance. There are oh-so-many ways you might meet your next love in Bellingham: bumping into each other at the bustling farmer’s market amid the vendors and crowds, swimming at the lake on a hot day in between cannon balls and naps in the sun, or even just cruising around town with the windows down.

7/5/23

“I have a crush. He says he has feelings for me, but I don’t know if I can trust him. But I do know I think about him and let the whole thing stress me out more than I should.”

I think about love a lot in my everyday life. Not just about my love life, but about love as an experience and action. I see children and parents walking together at Boulevard Park and feel lucky to witness just a moment of their shared love. I help older couples at work downtown and admire how comfortable they are in their love for each other. I come home to my roommates after a long day out of the house and feel comforted to share their company, and I know I feel this way because I love them.

7/7/23

“I’m thinking about what it means to be loved. In all honesty, I’m still trying to figure out exactly what it means to be loved, especially as an adult. I see the cost/benefit side of love more now. Love does not ask for much, but it cannot exist without some substance of growth. 

I love my friends and family. I know this for sure, but how? Is it because I genuinely care about their wellbeing? Is it because I enjoy being around them? Is it because I know I should? 

I miss the days when love was a simple concept- a step above like. Something that comes naturally to everyone.” 

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly think about my romantic love life too. I’ve been lucky enough to have been in love a few times now. I think about how different each person I’ve loved has been; the different ways a person can give and receive love, the differences there are to overcome in love and how falling in love feels different each time.

Bellingham summers inspire an openness in matters of the heart. It seems easy to put aside such thinking when the sun is setting in a spectacular pink and orange glow over the bay and all that matters is the serendipitous connection one feels in sharing a memory with someone. 

7/21/23

“He’s my summer fling. It’s fun. I wonder how things will end.” 

As laid-back as Bellingham is, the summer season is defined by its undercurrent of urgency. Pressure builds from the memory of rainy and cold seasons past, pushing all to experience summer to the fullest capacity. There’s not a minute to be lost and an abundance of vitamin D to be made up.

Sometimes falling in love is subject to similar pressures. Whether it be loneliness, a desire for validation, a fear of commitment, or emotional unavailability, falling in love embodies more than just the person you’re falling in love with. 

11/25/23

“I am emotionally involved at this point. I care about him. I want him to be happy. I also want to be happy.”  

Even long summer days must eventually come to an end. With this change in seasons, attitudes toward love change as well, but a humble romance still lingers.

Accompanying the brisk winds that stir up multicolored foliage dances, is a grounding air of seriousness. What do I want?

The persistent rainfall washes the town in a thoughtful kind of quiet. Am I ready for this?

The transition doesn’t occur suddenly or all at once, but all the better to notice the blaring of train horns for the first time in a while. When was the last time I really listened to the train coming through town?

We turn these questions over in our minds until the edges are worn soft like a stone and store them in the place where unsaid words and embarrassing memories are archived. Some of us are brave enough to take them off the shelf and show them the light of day.

 12/19/23

“Things are different now than when we first met, and my feelings are stronger. It’s frustrating because I did this to myself.  I started caring more.”

In matters of love, summer after summer can feel like lesson after lesson.  Communication, trust, attachment style, vulnerability; The internet is quick to diagnose exactly what the problem with your relationship is. The unbearable reality of love is that we often have little control over the outcome. Try as we might, love exists for no one’s agenda or plans.

2/3/24

“I love love. And I’m excited to share that with someone. I bring this up because really, I think he’s teaching me something – or being with him is. About myself. About who I am in a relationship, about what I want, about what I need, about where I am. It’s interesting to notice how much I’ve grown, but also what I need to work on.”

To think of love can feel cliché and sappy. To speak of love can feel immature and unimportant. To write of love... Well, it’s a good thing I’m a hopeless romantic who wears their heart on their sleeve. Ultimately, it is my belief that our capacity to love is a superpower, a strength not to be taken as a weakness that empowers me to live with an open heart. To experience love in all its shapes and forms is part of what makes us human.

In the way that the changing leaves may predict the turn of the seasons but not what the season holds in store for us, love explains what makes humans so simultaneously predictable yet unpredictable.

2/14/24

“Happy Valentine's Day! I think I’m in love. I’ve felt this way for a bit now, but I’m starting to act like it too. It doesn’t change anything, but it also changes everything.”