Winter.

Winter is not my favourite season. By far.

When I was younger, I loved autumn, especially as it transitioned to winter. I didn't mind the chill and I loved playing in the snow. It sent a certain thrill through me to smell the crispness of the air which came right before snow.

Sigh. Those days are no more.

These days, I cringe at the sight of snow flurries spinning through the air. I become cold right about the moment I close the door of my building in the morning... and I seem to stay cold all day. I wear long-sleeves, a sweater, and sometimes gloves all day; I drink coffee to stay warm. To no avail, however. I sometimes feel almost warm when I study in the Graduate Student Center (which also offers the perk of free coffee!), but never in the Graduate School of Education. GSE knows not the nature of warmth, I do believe.

But, oh well, it is winter, and I suppose I must resign myself to the nature of being cold.

It's been a few years since I survived a northern hemisphere winter: both my body and psyche prefer to spend these months much closer to the equator. Coming back from Uganda in February of this year, in the midst of one of the snowiest winters in recent history, was shock enough to my system.

And here I am, at the beginning of December, staring down another long, cold winter in Pennsylvania. It's already so cold (weather . com currently suggests that the outside temperature "feels like" 24F) that I shiver at the mere thought of walking the 8.5 blocks from my apartment to GSE - and so windy that I sometimes have to bow my head and talk myself through it ("keep walking. one step after another. you can go inside soon.). Twice now I've seen snow in the air: first on my birthday/Thanksgiving, then again this afternoon.

Winter is arriving in this part of the world where I have chosen to locate myself. Hibernation seems not to be an option (I can neither pass my classes nor faithfully complete my employment duties if I just stay in my apartment until April), though it is a very tempting contemplation. I guess I'll just have to figure out a way to survive - and be glad of the fact that I can come home to hot tea, a stifling apartment, and some good old-fashioned cuddling.