I think people tend to exaggerate how horrible New England winters are, but then you have those days where you wake up, check the weather, and learn that it is possible to have a high of 29 F that feels more like 15 F from the wind. So what are you supposed to do on days like these?
The first and ideal response is to hibernate. Seriously. Just don’t leave your room for anything. Curl up in bed all day with blankets and movies and maybe some tea or hot chocolate. But unfortunately, some days you have those pesky things like classes, or the need to feed yourself, and you are forced to leave your toasty cocoon of a dorm room and venture into the harsh outdoors.
Now that you are forced to brace the tundra of the city, how do you cope? Preparation is crucial.
1) Layer. You actually need to wear every warm article of clothing you own at once. If you are not wearing two to three layers of clothes on every square inch of your body, you will regret it.
2) Function over fashion. This is no time to get picky about what you will and will not wear. Nobody’s gonna be looking at you anyway because everyone’s keeping their heads down to avoid the wind from actually ripping their faces off. If you want to wear footy pajamas under a snuggie with Uggs, the only comments you’ll hear from strangers is that they wish they’d thought of that first.
3) Protect your ears and neck. Besides a ski mask, which is not super culturally acceptable, there’s virtually no way to protect your face from the wind, so you’ll have to do the next best thing. Scarves and hats are not optional. They are the key to survival.
4) Comfortable and warm shoes. I will never understand those people who can wear cute flats or heels in December. You better believe that if it is under 40 degrees, I’ll be wearing my Uggs. I don’t even care that they’re ugly, because it’s like having kittens hugging your feet everywhere you go.
5) Heads down and just dive in. You will hate every second of fighting the wind and losing while trying to walk to class. You’ll think about your friends in schools in Florida and California and curse yourself for thinking that Boston would be fun. But sometimes you just need to keep your head down and dive straight in. You may find yourself making absurd faces attempting to regain feeling in your cheeks and lips. Also, look out for ice. Today I discovered that if it’s cold enough, beer will freeze on the sidewalk. And death by slippery frozen beer was not on my To Do list for today.
Even after all this pain, I keep coming back to this city. Because there’s no place I’d rather be knocked down by gusts of wind or freeze my face off. Plus, it’s really beautiful in the snow.
Stay warm, friends!
❤ Lizzy
Storytime With Lizzy 