Coming back from the weeklong Thanksgiving break, the spirits of students and faculty already missing their break were further dampened by the miserable weather greeting students on Tuesday morning. The morning settled in with a kind of grayness that never lifted. People going to their first classes entered a landscape surrounded by heavy clouds that hid any indication that it was early in the morning. The air hung damp, worsened by the piercing cold December wind. By midday, the sky darkened further, as if eternally frozen in twilight, and the first drops of rain splattered onto the backpacks and heads of unfortunate students, holding a steady drizzle that continued for the rest of the day.
The rain was never pouring, but its persistence made Tuesday feel unusually long. Walking paths were covered with puddles, with students tediously navigating through the minefield in an effort to keep their shoes dry. Walking down to the dining hall, a pond started forming in the field in front of the Arts Studio, as it is often prone to do. When interviewing one of the many students hurrying between buildings with hoods up and hunched shoulders, he said, “It felt like the day never started,” perfectly summing up the mood of the day. The added heaviness from the early sunset only made the already bleak day even more gloomy.
It was the kind of day that only a New England winter can deliver, a reminder that winter isn’t just about Christmas and snowball fights, but also about endless gray skies, lengthy darkness, and weather that tugs down everyone’s moods. Nevertheless, while there are plenty of bleak days ahead, students were grateful for the warm and cheerful atmosphere provided by the dining hall as they came inside for dinner.
