Opinion
Learning how to cope with the winter season
December 9, 2011
“Oh the weather outside is frightful.” That is definitely true. I took a nap the other day, and when I woke up I felt like I had slept through an entire season. I woke up to a winter wonderland.
Now is the time of year when we are all slipping and sliding while walking to class. We are also sliding all over the road. Winter can be a beautiful time of year, but it can also be a huge pain!
I know we all get the same lectures from our parents every year. Drive slow, keep your eyes on the road, and so on. Driving to work on Dec. 3, I left a few minutes earlier because I had a feeling the roads might have been a little slick. I always say that I’d rather get somewhere late and drive safely, than not get there at all.
And what about walking to class? I was slipping all over the place, almost falling down a few times. I am so worried about getting to class on time. Maybe we should all give ourselves a few extra minutes to walk to class if we know the sidewalks are going to be icy. Better safe than sorry!
Now, driving and walking in the winter is one thing. It is not too bad when it’s snowing. But one of the worst parts of winter is the cold! Sure we can bundle up and whatnot, although some days it’s just so hard to walk through the freezing cold and the whipping wind, by the time we get to class, we are so cold. But by the time we thaw out, we just have to go right back outside again.
Remember when we would sometimes have cold days or ice days back in elementary or middle school? It would be too cold or too icy for kids to stand outside waiting for the bus. I miss those days.
In college, we are lucky enough to get one snow day. It seems like every time it snows here, it is always on a weekend. I think that old man winter likes to tease us.
OK, I guess I can’t be too hard on this season. Sure the weather isn’t the best all of the time, and it does get really cold, but on the days where it’s not so bad, winter can be a beautiful season.
On a sunny day, the rays from the sun will reflect off of the snow and make it glisten. My favorite part is the trees. They look so pretty covered in snow. And even now and then, on the not so nice winter days, it’s always nice to just curl up with a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate and a movie. Those days are the best, the days when we don’t have to work or do homework for a night. We can be in our pajamas and be lazy. Winter does have its ups and downs, but just remember that it won’t last forever!
Samantha Harkness is a journalism major at UW-River Falls. She loves reading, writing and watching movies.