a case of the winter blues

these past few days have been final confirmation that i am not in latin america this semester. no mangoes on the street corners, no warm oceans to swim in, no 45 minute walks in flip flops, and more significantly, no temperatures over 50 degrees.

yep, i am back on the east coast.

today i am writing with an inclination first to complain about this terribly cold weather. so i'll let myself run with that inclination for a few sentences. it's been two years since i lived in a massachusetts winter and i honestly forgot how cold it is out here. it's not just the cold that bites your nose and ears and sometimes makes you want to cry when you see the distance between you and the next door, but it's also the cold that makes your skin so dry and your thin hair go haywire static-y. and sometimes no amount of layering will prepare you for the blustery wind. long underwear doesn't even cut it.

on the other hand...
it's magical. waking up to trees covered in white makes me happy as do rosy pink cheeks and walking in the woods dusted with white. and i feel like an accomplished independent woman now having removed snow off my car for the first time and successfully driving a few miles down the road (granted it was only an inch of snow, but i still feel quite proud).

i become even more grateful for a roof over my head and hot soup and fruit tea in the winter. i can't imagine living on the streets of boston during these chilly days.
so to move my mind from the cold and dry skin, here's a few things i am looking forward to this winter:

-crafts on pintrest (i finally caved...and i love it)
-SOUP ..my mama got me the best soup cookbook + an apron so i am all set
-ice skating
-lazy days like this morning where drinking coffee and watching a movie before 11am is perfectly acceptable
-enjoying my pink fluffy down comforter
-my mittens on a string so i never lose them...a little dorky? yes. but i love 'em.

because winter is approaching

35°F

Wenham, MA

it's officially back.

the cold new england weather i have been avoiding for the past 10 months.

there are things i love about winter. i love pink rosy cheeks, especially on adorable little kids who are covered head to toe in jackets, scarves, and mittens. there is a remarkable beauty to the way trees can become completely white, and there's something magical about watching snowflakes stick to your dark eyelashes and just sitting still, listening, to the snowfall around you. i love after a snowfall when the sun shines so brightly and everything looks so clean, and white, and lovely..and even though you're cold, you forget that you can't feel your nose or your lips because you're captivated by how beautiful it is.

there's the excitement of waking up at 6:00am to "Gordon College Notification System" saying school has been cancelled for the day because of snow and you put your head back to the pillow for a few more hours and then spend the rest of the day cuddled on your bed or the couch watching TV, drinking hot chocolate, and catching up on work you haven't been able to get done for days.

but then winter has its downsides (but i'm trying to be optimistic with the things i love about it first). what is at first so clean, beautiful, and white, soon turns into gray, brown and ugly, especially come March when you start to destroy snow cubes along the side of the road because you are begging the weather to warm up enough so there is no longer snow anywhere in your sight. sometimes the wind blows so fiercly that it feels like no matter how many layers, how thick your long underwear is, or how many cups of tea/hot drink you can drink, the cold blows straight through. and there's the awkward passing-by people along the road when you try to smile but your mouth just doesn't really move because it's frozen. it's embarrassing - and sort of depressing because you don't see as many smiles through those months.

the past few years i have been learning to embrace winter - the highs and lows, the crazy wind or the beautiful snowfall, the dry and cracked skin, or the coziness inside my dorm or apartment. what i probably appreciate the most is how much more thankful i am for spring -- the first sighting of crocuses, the tulips starting to burst from the ground, the slight increase of the temperature on my weather site ...it brings tears to my eyes (literally).

love from snowtober,

alyssa