Cleveland winters are notoriously brutal due to their below freezing temperatures and the city’s lake effect that brings chilling, Canadian winds to the Northeast.
In the peak of the winter, it takes 15 minutes to defrost your car before you can hit the road. The streets are ice rinks and your car tires move like skates gliding uncontrollably. Bundles of clothes are necessary to even venture outside of your cozy dorm room.
In contrast, Cleveland’s fall is the calm before the tundra. While I like autumn, I used to believe that it was overrated because I am not the biggest fan of what happens after fall. Paradoxically, my favorite season happens during a different time of the year, when warmer days are coming.
Despite winter encroaching on the bliss of fall, I cannot help but admit that John Carroll looks ravishing during each season. Every autumn, campus is usually bedecked with crunchy leaves on the ground. The leaves that stick around on the trees glow in the sun’s path. The gust of wind is gentle and comforting. My dormitory window is a portrait of the mosaic displayed outside.
It’s all so picturesque. How could I once think that fall was overrated?
In admiring the beauty, I am experimenting with my column this week and my creative writing. Maybe fall is so beautiful because we need it before the frigid weather. Maybe winter is so dreary because we need a hibernating season before we can experience an awakening. All seasons have a part to contribute; they each contain their own type of beauty.
Without winter, I wouldn’t value the joy of blooming flowers, summer sun and changing leaves. I wouldn’t be able to play in the pillowy dunes on the quad or throw snowballs at my friends. The world needs winter as much as it needs spring, summer and fall. They keep one another, and us, in balance.
This season reminds me of gratitude—to be grateful for each season even if I am not necessarily fond of them. So, I will admire fall’s splendor and wait to witness the grace of winter. I will still miss the 70 degree weather, but the warm thoughts can help me through the Cleveland winter.
