When posed with the question, “who in here does NOT like winter?” I raised my hand with pride. I believe that while there are some fun parts to this heart-rending season, the cons are too great to even consider it an acceptable thing to celebrate. While the water starts to freeze and the cold winds whistle a Mariah Carey tune, we often find ourselves blinded by the holiday cheer and the snow falling outside the dull classroom windows. Now, all of these are great, and I don’t mean to sound like a downer here, but winter is literally the worst, and I would love to take a look past the fog of this “festive” season.

Starting this article off strong, with the part of winter that I believe will impact us the most here at Winchester, we have icy sidewalks. Picture this: you’re walking through the blistering cold to the Davis Center, then suddenly you step on an icy patch and your feet suddenly fly from under you and you end up arriving at the Davis Center “luge style”. Okay, maybe that example was a bit extreme, but nothing really starts the morning off like some facefulls of sidewalk! In a more realistic example, we will be jumping back and forth between spaces of crowded sidewalk to try to avoid these menacing icy sheets. All I’m saying is, I don’t think that the buddy system is gonna get us out of this one. 

I believe that another factor that plays into winter’s tyranny, and goes hand in hand with icy sidewalks, is the burning cold winds. We all know the feeling: your face practically numb from the needles of the ice cold gusts, no feeling left in any of your toes, and your hands moving at the speed of the lunch line on chicken tender day.

Another big part of this season is attire. On top of the freezing temperatures, we have to deal with the epidemic of shorts in winter. Also known as the 9th wonder of the world, shorts in winter is a trend widely expressed by middle school students and members of the boys basketball team. Is it for fashion? Is it for comfort? Some will never know. The constant reminders that it is “not that bad” will constantly come for you. Sorry Karl, but it is in fact “that bad”. All I know is that it is going to take a lot more than a pair of shorts to get me to the Davis Center.

As a certified citizen of this planet, I feel as though I am qualified to say how demoralizing it  looks when we look out the windows. Our once green grass and filled trees have turned a murky brown. Our bright blue, sunny skies have turned gray. I find it makes the days even more monotonous than they already are, when the weather is never changing and everyday seems to be a cycle of the past. 

So, at the end of the day, there is a reason that bears, birds, butterflies and many more skip this season, and I personally think we should follow our mascot’s example and cancel school for the next 4 months to hibernate. Goodnight.