Living in Indiana comes with definite positives and negatives. 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing', also known as the Indianapolis 500 comes to mind as on of the obvious positives.
Some would call our recent string of cold, wintery weather one of the negatives to an Indiana life style. I strongly disagree, for one I love the cold weather and more importantly, life just does not feel the same without seasons.
While my focus is generally on politics, not my love of winter coats and ugly sweaters, which is totally a thing, but bare with me while I hop up on my soap-box and delve into my love of the winter wonderland Indiana has become over the last few weeks.
Growing up in Indiana, you learn to never take weather for granted. One day it will be sunny and 75 degrees, the next day there will be a winter-storm advisory. Indiana whether always knows how to keep you on your toes.
There are real reasons to appreciate the weather that Indiana has had over the last month or so. They include but are not limited to: just about any snow focused activity, it looks beautiful outside when it snows, and if it is going to be cold there might as well be snow on the ground. Indiana winters are not always absolutely perfect, but they are not worth all the fuss that some make about them. Just sit back, relax, and cross your fingers for a snow day so you can enjoy some nice wintery-weather.
To start with, snow provides the perfect medium for the most pure fun you can have while the weather is nasty. I might sound a little childish, but is there anything more fun than playing in the snow?
Of course not, the best part of having snow-days as a child, which was almost impossible considering I went to Zionsville, was the massive, neighborhood wide snowball fights we would have. While that may not be the best approach in college considering the probability of alcohol being present on a day when school is cancelled, DePauw students need to live a little and remember what used to be the highlight of every child's winter.
After the first big snow storm of the first semester, some of my fraternity brothers and I went out and played a little tackle football in the snow out on East College lawn. It was one of the most fun afternoons I can remember at DePauw.
As a senior, I am realizing that next year I will not be able to drop everything and play snow football with some of my best friends. Cherish the snow, the freedom of college and the amount of fun that combination can create.
The next reason to savor the snow is that there is nothing more beautiful than looking out your window at a fresh sheet of snow on the ground. Whether I am at the base of a mountain in Aspen, Colorado or standing among the ever-extending 'flatness' of Greencastle, Ind. snow makes just about any scene more beautiful.
The final obvious reason why snow is a blessing is that if it is going to be as bitterly cold as it has been for the past month or so in Indiana, there might as well be snow on the ground. If there is no snow, the miserably cold air is not worth it.
Everyone needs to stop worrying about the cold weather and snow on the ground and enjoy it. Very rarely in life will we every be as free as we are as college students and snow allows us to return to the innocents of snow-forts and snowball fights. Stop thinking you are too cool to play in the snow. We all need to blow some steam off every once in a while.
-Small is a senior history and political science double major from Zionsville, Ind.