Fourth Estate/ Billy Ferguson
BY ALEX MADAJIAN, STAFF WRITER
Here’s the honest truth: sunny days are overrated. Days with clouds, rain, snow — and I’ll go so far as to say hail too — make for far better days than just plain sun. Allow me to explain myself.
I’m originally from Santa Barbara, a city on the coast of southern California. I was born there and lived there for 20 years. I had a wonderful time there, but I’m glad it’s over. In Santa Barbara, it was 72 degrees all year. It was always sunny. Perfect.
Every. Single. Day.
There hadn’t been a record of more than half an inch of snow since the ‘70s. It was so sunny and dry, we would only refer to the state outside as “weather” if it wasn’t a perfect day.
To me, living with “weather” is a unique concept. Yet I find many of my fellow students can’t stand it. This saddens me more than seasonal depression. I believe people’s judgments on the weather should not be so clouded, and they should enjoy the diversity of weather showered throughout the week. Now before you thunder away at me and rain on my parade, let me demonstrate why there is no reason to fear snow-good weather (OK, I promise that was the last dad joke).
When we come across a cold, rainy, snowy or weather-y day, it turns a normal day into an adventure. If you wish to see imperfect weather as a bother, by all means, go about your way! But if you wish to see that rainy day become a quest, then hear me out. Instead of putting on your raincoat and umbrella, imagine you are donning your battle robes and shield. When you set out the door, your journey has begun! The world may try to beat you down, but your will is stronger! You shall become unstoppable as you (internally) shout your weather-fighting battle cry: That unnecessary homework assignment will be turned in! I will arrive before my professor’s awkwardly-scheduled office hours end! And my Chick-fil-A will stay dry!
Another benefit of weather’s wonderful wildness is it serves as an equalizer to all pedestrians. Be you a freshman or senior, person of color or white, foreign-born or native-born, politically-active or couldn’t care less, the weather affects us all — and we all must deal with it. In this increasingly polarized world, it seems there are fewer and fewer things we all hold in common. Perhaps the weather has always been the most common condition connecting humanity, and perhaps it will be the last connection we lose.
But maybe the most terrific thing about the weather is the simplest: its beauty. Thanks to daring photographers and storm chasers, even some of the most violent and devastating storms have yielded some of the most breathtaking pictures of the awesome power of nature. It almost feels as though the sound of the calming pitter-patter of rain will detangle the anxieties within our minds. Prior to coming to the east coast, I had never seen snow fall. Walking through it, standing on it or just gazing at it fills me with wonder.
It’s easy to complain about the weather, but I’ve lived with the sun and beach for a long time, and like nearly all good things, you get disenchanted with it the more you are used to having it. Furthermore, it does nothing for me to hate what I have now and wish for what I used to have. Instead, I encourage you to reorient your mind — and heart — and teach yourself to love what you have been blessed with.
