For weeks now, I have heard a multitude of complaints about the bipolar attitude of the weather. Popular laments include the fact that it would be warm and beautiful one day and then the next day it would be glacial. As soon as you thought you were blessed with the ability to wear shorts to class (or capris, for those of you into that kind of thing) without shivering the entire way, you’d wake up one morning to the kind of weather that even a Canadian would be annoyed with.
I made a promise to myself the Sunday we all returned from Spring Break that I would only wear shorts from then on (unless of course I had to dress up). You know… to stick it to Mother Nature. It worked out (mostly) well for about 9 days. Despite the nippy temperatures I faced for my early morning classes, the donning of my short britches was hardly an issue. But then, one morning I stepped out into the fresh air to head to class and, before the door to my building had even shut, I was already turned around and walking back into my apartment.
“Nope. Not today. Nope, nope, nope.”
I put on my heaviest corduroys and left once again for class, only to show up three or four minutes late. I think Dr. Vance understood.
Last year at Easter, I was with one of my buddies and we spent the weekend puttering around in his family’s 1992 convertible with the top down listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival. THIS year for Easter, I spent the weekend wearing a beanie and a pea coat. Global warming, am I right?
Maybe it has something to do with campus being up so high. Us McDaniel students feel so mighty and powerful living our days out on the Hill, separated from all of the townspeople by a few hundred feet of elevation. Heavy lies the crown.
But seriously. You go anywhere off campus and the dang wind is no longer blowing at full-forced gales and you can actually spend eight minutes outside without feeling the dire need to reapply facial moisturizer the instant you step back inside.
We thought this atmospheric nonsense would never end, but then, lo and behold, it got warm! Like really warm. I even wore flip flops today. The men busted out their boat shoes and the women their sundresses. Frisbees, skimpy outfits and blankets on the lawn were abundant all about.
And yet, despite the sunlight, the flowers and the overall beauty of the day, the number of complaints I heard was unreal.
“It’s so hot in this classroom.”
“I’m sweating so much.”
“Ugh, it’s so hot.”
Oh, what? You whine and complain about how cold you are and then the moment the thermometer breaks 68 degrees, it’s problematic? No. Wrong. Walk back inside, get a popsicle and then go sit outside in the sunlight. A little extra Vitamin D never hurt anyone.
Enjoy the weather. Toss a baseball. Rock some sunglasses. Make some iced tea. Wear some short shorts (guys and girls). But, above all else, please remember: just because it zips doesn’t mean it fits.
