Gloomy gray skies, thick blankets of white snow and slippery roads — this description of Ithaca winters was reiterated to me multiple times before I stepped on the plane headed to Cornell. In fact, the entire winter break, I spent half my time getting mentally prepared to come back to a cold land where my best friends would be a coat, gloves and cap. So you can imagine my surprise when I came back to Ithaca and saw green grass, clear blue skies and a temperature close to the fifties.
However, I’m not complaining! I come from a tropical country and one of the few things I was dreading about going here was the harsh winter that I would have to face here. Luckily (thank you El Nino!), I have been spared my first winter here and I get to slowly acclimatize to the cold that will soon follow.
On the other hand, I do feel a bit cheated. I had a huge list of things to do when the snow collected such as building a snow man and having a snow ball fight of epic proportions and making a snow angel. Of course, all of this would be done to the tunes of “Do You Want to Build a Snow Man?” and “Let It Go” because, let’s be real, the Frozen soundtrack was made for this purpose. I just feel that I’ve been deprived of the opportunity to make my Disney dreams come true.
At the same time, it’s strangely wonderful to see Ithaca in a different light. The soft sunshine illuminates the beautiful campus in an entirely new light. Taking a stroll and exploring new parts of campus has been easier. For example, the first day I got back, my friend and I decided to take a walk around Beebe Lake and we saw the lake’s new winter cover. Some parts of it were frozen and all we could see was a sheet of ice sprinkled with clumps of soft white snow, sitting alongside rapidly moving waters that still hadn’t frozen in parts of the lake. It’s a rare sight to be able to see the different sides of nature sitting right beside each other — a sight that is only possible because of the milder winter!
All in all, it’s good to be back and enjoying the weather outside without feeling like I could turn into a living, walking snowman at any instant. There’s no need to worry about the cold too much, as classes have already found a way of bringing the heat back and the pressure up. Until next time, bulk up, drink up and stay warm!