Brittany Poeppe | Assistant Arts + Life Editor
This morning, I groggily woke to the vibrating alarm on my phone.
I snoozed it [obviously], and debated how much longer I could sleep before classes.
For some reason, instead of going back to sleep and savoring those few extra minutes, I decided to check Facebook to find the results of last night’s caucuses.
Instead, I discovered that the University had been closed, and all classes were cancelled due to winter storm, ‘Kayla.’
I happily checked my email [just to be sure it wasn’t a cruel joke], and drifted back to sleep.
***
Although most of my snow day was spent putting together a story about the caucus and hearing others tell their snow day stories, I still enjoyed my [mostly] free day.
***
Somewhere between waking up this morning and walking back to my suite tonight, I became grateful for the storm.
The storm that halted our busy lives for a day to enjoy time with our friends.
The storm that had us organizing and reorganizing our priorities.
The storm that made me savor each snowflake, stinging my rosy cheeks on the walk back to my suite.
On my walk back, campus was a ghost town.
It was dark and quiet now, where earlier today, it was full of life and spontaneity.
In those brief moments in the snow,
my feet weren’t cold.
my hood wouldn’t stay on my head.
wind stung my face.
I slipped in the snow, which was deeper than I planned.
I couldn’t help but smile.
In those moments, I realized how beautiful campus was.
The snow, clinging to the sides of the buildings amid the glow of the streetlamps,
Lights from dorm windows shining in the night,
Half filled-in footprints in the snow.
Tomorrow, the memory of the snow day will make me groggily snooze my alarm again in hopes that we have another
Tomorrow I will remember how campus looked, dressed in white, frozen in time.
Though I will pray for another snow day, I’m ready for tomorrow.
It will be a new adventure, and I’ll find beauty in that too.
There is beauty in every day; sometimes you have to walk alone in the snow to find it.
See more of Brittany’s work on her personal blog.
Photo by Kiley Wellendorf
