Naomi

There is a thick covering of snow again and it’s shitty. Our front drive never gets the sun; it is the last place in the country that the snow melts, which means Mum can’t get the car out of the garage and I always get this stranded feeling. It takes so much effort to walk through, as well. It’s meant to be SPRING, I am meant to be frolicking about in the daffodils. This time last year it was warm enough that I could lie on our lawn and read and feel the sun on my skin. This has been the longest winter I ever remember, and I am so so tired of it.

I know it’s boring to talk about the weather, but pretty much everyone right now is talking about it. “It’s March!” they exclaim. “There isn’t supposed to be snow!” (Though now that I think about it I remember a few years ago when it snowed in April—but that was only a freak couple of days. This time, it is winter actually never-ending.) And it’s not just the snow. It’s cold and it’s windy and it has been this way for as long as I can remember and I am sick of my winter coats.

Walking home from college, breathless from fighting the wind, feeling the chill biting my ears, neck, and head, I took note of my posture—I was all hunched over, closing in on myself, head down, bracing myself against the cold. It’s no wonder I’ve been in a bad mood; slouching stresses you out and makes you depressed. Don’t judge anyone in the cold outdoors in winter—they’re sure to seem unfriendly. We’re all rushing to the next warm place as quickly as we can; we don’t have time for a nod or even a glance at another human soul.

A few weeks ago, we got one day of spring. The air was warm and bright, and I smiled and said the cheeriest “thank you” ever to a group of builders who cleared the pavement to let me past. Pretty much everyone seems great when the sun is out.

Everyone around me is covered from head to toe, save for a slit of face, in a bulge of thermals, wool, and fleece, shuffling so as not to slip in the slush. Snow when it’s falling can be graceful, but there’s no way for a person to be graceful in the snow. ♦