This Week’s Feels Like Is “Arctic Hell” with a High of “I Hate Living Here!”
By THEA VAUGHAN ‘27
One would think, given my appetite for skiing, snowboarding, and ice hockey, I would enjoy winter. Indeed, every year I look forward to getting back on the ice and skiing down some epic double-blacks. But one terrible thing stands in the way of fully enjoying these wonderful times: the cold. It’s biting. Vicious. Unrelenting. As soon as I step outside, I forget what warmth feels like. Not even the new dining hall’s hot chocolate, as delicious as it may be, can cure the chill permanently settled in my bones. Call me the princess from The Princess and the Pea because I’m wearing a bajillion layers and still somehow uncomfortable. And the snow? The blanket of white is pretty for approximately three days before it melts to slush and turns every pathway into the Mississippi River for the rest of the term. Last year I changed socks five times in one day because they kept getting soaked. This year I have opted to wear big, clunky snowboots everywhere because you will not catch me with frigid feet. This is paired, of course, with a knee-length coat that I told my mom I wouldn’t need and am incredibly grateful she bought anyway. And then there’s the wind! The stupid drafts seriously make me reconsider attending a school where I have to walk outside to get to my next class. It’s so strong that my friend got blown away the other day. I’m going to be blown away if I make it through this winter without joining Ötzi The Iceman in his ice cube. I am so unbelievably excited for spring term…
By ISHA SASTRY ‘28
If you stepped outside in the past few weeks and thought to yourself, why in my right mind would I ever come to this hell-hole of a town, you are not alone! After nearly fifteen years of living in the freezing, frost-bitten Exeter, New Hampshire, I still find my jaw slackening at the sheer atrocity of the weather. While other states boast fresh sprouts of green grass and delicate little daisy blooms in the rosy month of April, the biggest snowstorm of the year is surely going to barge in and ruin all of your hopes for a picturesque spring lawn. (Mom and Dad, I’m still waiting for you to tell me that moving here was all some elaborate prank to hide our beautiful new house in Fort Lauderdale).
But out of all the weekends I’ve spent watching boiling water freeze in the midst of this thick, icy New England air, these past ones have people like me scratching their heads, wondering where it all went wrong. What deranged spirit took hold of my family’s minds when choosing between living on the West Coast or a random little marsh that is in itself an arctic circle? But what in particular made this stretch of time so unbearable? What really made you pull the covers over your eyes at the vexing beeps of your alarm clock? These are the top three reasons why Exeter, N.H., is perfectly unfit to be comfortably inhabited by any species.
Slush. Why does it exist? There are only two reasons that any of us put up with snow around campus: because of the feeling of je ne sais quoi we experience upon seeing its beauty or to throw snowballs in an unsuspecting face. This abomination of nature’s joy in life seems to be soaking through my “waterproof” boots.
Random gusts of bone-chilling wind: Nothing could be quite as fulfilling as walking back from the dining hall with your oversized jacket when a numbingly cold squall flies right through the fabric and seeps into every inch of your skin.
Being forced to wear a thick coat all the time: I didn’t spend 45 minutes planning out the perfect outfit just for it to be covered by an ugly, mismatched winter coat. Unfortunately, I only have two choices: to be subjected to the will of the Forces of Exeter Nature and wear it, or to “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing” die of hypothermia.
Whichever of these resonates with you the most, just know that we feel your pain through these cold and dark times. Those in H block, I give my utmost sympathy to you. The feeling of coming out of a brutally difficult math test and realizing that the forecast is looking more down than your future GPA is incomparable to any other.
But Exonians, not all hope is lost! For the next couple of weeks, a heat wave is projected to be on the radar! With temperatures up to an astounding 41 degrees! Granted, it is almost guaranteed that if it is “warm,” it will also rain. But wouldn’t you rather it be toasty and raining than freezing and..well..also raining? The moral of the story is to enjoy October glory while you can because the breathtaking, golden foliage can only stall the winter chill for so long. Or, just stay inside and watch as your friends go home to sandy beaches and fading sunsets. However much my life may change in the future, there is one thing that will always be set in stone: as soon as graduation rolls around, I’m on the next plane out of here!