Oct. 26, 2015
Audrey Jensen
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It arrives the same time every year.
My fear and anxiety increases each day the temperature drops by five degrees until eventually the first big snow falls and blankets Colorado Springs.
Then, I am miserable.
I am from southern California, which means when it’s 60 degrees outside I wear my jacket. I never understood why, as soon as the sun comes out, everyone busts out their shorts and sandals.
Although I have found ways to take advantage of living in a state that snows, it doesn’t mean I look forward to waking up too cold to function.
I have friends that would say with winter come fireplaces, holiday drinks and playing in the snow.
What I imagine is falling on ice, car accidents and my eyelashes freezing off.
As fall and winter intertwine I am reminded of everything I need to prepare for when it sporadically snows.
I keep an emergency snow kit in my car that includes a blanket, flashlight, gloves and an ice scraper.
When I really want to appreciate the snow, I will take a trip far, far into the mountains to Copper or Keystone, but I do not appreciate being tortured seven out of 12 months a year.
“Then why do you live here?”
People ask me this a lot, but do not seem to get that it’s not just a piece of cake to afford out-of-state tuition and pick up and move to a beach state.
They say Colorado is a state that sees the most days of sunshine in a year, I beg to differ.
Just because the sun shines in the morning doesn’t count as a full day of vitamin D.
When I wake up every day, leaving 30 minutes early in fear of my car not starting or having to scrape glaciers off my windshield, I only want to hibernate from November to May.
We take the sun and warmth for granted. In the summer I can drive with my windows down and don’t have to worry about how late I will be to work or class.
All of the leaves are still on the trees and flowers are bright and blooming. In the winter, it only puts me in a bad mood to walk outside to see colorless trees all around me, with no color but the gray sky.
With gray skies comes snow and with snow come potholes.
According to The Gazette, it would take over sixty-seven years to fix all the potholes we currently have in Colorado Springs because street repairs are so backed up.
That means never ending construction.
People are generally happier in warmer states. There is more sun and more opportunities to be outside when it’s not snowing and cold.