Am I crazy, or has this year’s winter felt too long? I’ve lived in Madison for seventeen years, my entire life, and never before have I craved the hot, humid summer as much as I do now. Why isn’t it spring yet? Why are we still getting ten inches of snow overnight?
The answer, after some deliberation and consultation with the Dodger Online staff, is that the bad weather started too early. Normally, here in the northeast, bad weather is associated with winter. Fall and spring are beautiful, summer showers cool and relaxing. But winter is when the cold comes, the flu strikes, and the snows bury. So when a hurricane struck at the end of October and most of Madison was cold and without power for nearly a week, many people (myself included) subconsciously associated the event with the start of winter.
Then, throughout the chilly months of November and December, snow periodically coated the streets and trees. Even though larger snowstorms don’t usually hit until after the New Year, the first major one struck just days after Christmas, leaving many unable to travel. In January, we were faced with perpetual cold and freezing wind, which eventually subsided into cool, clear days. But then it became cold again in February, and another major storm struck. Now, two weeks later, some slush and ice still remain. With March around the corner, spring can’t come any sooner.