I need to be honest with you. For all the beauty and glory of Western Mass, we pay the price with cold, dark winters, and this winter has been my coldest yet. Coming from Baltimore, everyone around me warned about the famously freezing New England winters, but I was honestly underwhelmed by my first few winters, which were relatively mild. This year, though, I feel like I’m repaying my debt from missing last year’s winter while I was in warm, sunny Lisbon. We’re now at the point of winter where news of another snow isn’t exciting anymore, and I find myself more concerned about having to clean off my car again (which is a sad place to be). So when the college announced a rare snow day last Thursday, the collective relief was palpable.
Snow days at Amherst are a mix of excitement and practicality. For some, it’s an excuse to sleep in and catch up on readings. Others see it as an opportunity to reclaim the outdoors—sledding down Memorial Hill, attempting (and failing) to build structurally sound snow forts, or driving over to Berkshire East to go skiing. I spent the day inside, making bagels, watching my friends work on a giant pot of chicken noodle soup, and chipping away at line editing my first few thesis chapters. I don’t think I went outside even once.
Thankfully, Amherst preserves the sanctity of a day off, and doesn’t allow professors to move classes to Zoom when the college is closed. My professors have been incredibly accommodating, and instead of assigning extra take-home work to make up for the lost day, have either pushed back deadlines or cancelled assignments altogether.
Snow days disrupt the routine, but that’s part of their appeal. In the darkest part of the year, they offer a moment to pause, to step outside (or stay in) and appreciate the season in all its frozen, inconvenient beauty. And with the way this winter is going, we might get another one very soon—people have certainly been speculating (and there’s snow falling as I write this).
If you have questions about weather or anything at all, please feel free to reach out! I’d love to chat.