When I woke up Monday and checked the news for the weather as I always do in the morning, I saw something so frightening and horrible it made my skin crawl. No, it wasn't that Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes in one quarter in the New England Patriots 59-0 destruction of the Tennessee Titans nor was it the disturbing story of how the aptly named ‘balloon boy' ordeal was a hoax. It was the fact that the high temperature for the day was a brisk 59 degrees.
Now, 59 degrees isn't cold, but it isn't exactly warm either so when I went out that morning for a class in shorts I knew it was time to put up the T-shirts and cargo shorts. Gone are the days when students can walk outside and — after walking for five minutes — feel their fingers. No longer can we choose to enjoy the weather instead of piling into an overcrowded bus to get from class to class. Instead we are forced to travel in packs to keep what body heat we have contained. Now we have to book it from one building to the other, using every inch of the indoors to our advantage.
The biting wind will bring even the strongest of men and the most hardened of women to their knees in agony and devastation. Snowstorms will bury cars and cover roads and sidewalks bringing new meaning to the old phrase "I had to carry my books through six feet of snow for 10 miles uphill both ways to school" and we will all know what Dante's Ninth Circle feels like.
When it comes time for us to return home to our families for the holidays we will find, much to our dismay, that the doors on our cars are frozen tight and two inches of ice cover the windshields. For hours we will be forced to scrape away before even getting into the freezing car. Then, provided the car starts in the first place, we must endure 10 minutes of arctic air blowing in our faces as the heater slowly but surely kicks in.
During the next few months, driving will become even more hazardous with the ground wet and the roads icy. This means that trip to the mall that normally takes 10 minutes will take quite a bit longer. Clumsiness and embarrassment levels take a massive hike as we slip and slide across the treacherous sidewalks and precarious stairwells. And throughout it all, we will prevail — we will brave the horrors of Indiana winter and be grateful that we aren't in New York or Minnesota, where the gods show no mercy. We will come out of the darkness victorious and stronger and we will watch as the spring unfolds and we can look forward to complaining about how hot and humid it is.
Until spring does decide to arrive, we must be vigilant on how we prepare ourselves for the winter. First, make sure to dress warm and cover up. According to Medical News Today's Web site, it only takes a few minutes for skin to freeze. The wind will increase the dangers so, if possible, stay indoors on extremely cold days. Another danger to look out for during the winter is sunburn; yes it seems strange that your skin can burn even in the cold weather but the reality is, the snow reflects harmful ultraviolet rays, increasing the likelihood of sunburn during the winter. So be safe and smart and enjoy the next few months here at Ball State.
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