Growing up in Colorado, you learn to expect and work with the cold weather. I grew up planning my Halloween costumes and my spring break outfits around my winter coat. My senior year of prom, I took pictures in a parka. So when I came to Boston, I figured that winter would be a cake walk. I'd dealt with cold weather before. Now that I'm experiencing the heart of winter at Boston, I'm here to tell you what I've learned. How Midwest winters are different than Northeast winters.
The first thing is wind. There is so much freaking wind in the Northeast. It's hardly ever windy in the winter where I am from. The wind takes the cold to a whole other level. If it's 10 degrees in Colorado, it will feel like 10 degrees. Maybe even a little warmer if the sun is out. Here in Boston, if it's 10 degrees, it feels like -5 because of the wind.
Second, the sun. Colorado gets over 300 days of sunshine. Everybody says that Florida is the sunshine state, but every Colorado native knows that we get more rays. The best thing about the sun? It makes you feel happier. You can almost trick yourself into being warm when the sun is out. In Boston, winter seems to mean the end of the sun. It's gray in the morning, it's gray in the afternoon, it's even gray at night. It's so depressing.
Finally, humidity. Colorado is not a place where humidity exists. One thing that I have learned is that dry cold and wet cold are very different. Dry cold is so much easier to deal with. Sure, Colorado's dry air sucks the moisture out of your skin, your lips, your hair, and your soul, but at least you don't feel like you are fighting with a mist-er while walking to class.
I hate the cold. I don't like winter most of the time. The thing that I have learned living here in Boston is that not all winters are built the same. Colorado winters are brutal, but Boston is a whole other monster. I used to think that winter was a walk in the park. I'd been through the drill. While it's still not as hard for me as it might be for a southerner or Californian, I still struggle to deal with certain aspects.
Colorado may have won again.
