When I began thinking about this photo essay, I decided I was going to document the cold weather that seemed to take hold of the entire country. However, it warmed up almost as fast as it froze over!

I have lived in the South my whole life, and I cannot remember the last time the temperatures dipped into the single digits. This is completely foreign to me. It’s the kind of weather your grandparents always said they had to walk to school in — uphill, both ways, of course.

I broke out the thickest jacket I own, a fur lined Carhartt hat used in the past only for extreme snow in the mountains and a pair of super-warm gloves for the perilous journey from LaGrange to Towers for supper. Thank goodness they have unlimited hot chocolate!

As soon as I had mentally and physically prepared myself for the Antarctic weather, it disappeared. Wednesday, the first day of classes, showed itself to be “warmer,” with temperatures in the 40s. It’s sad when someone in Alabama considers that to be warm!

As the week went on, it got even warmer. Over the weekend, there were a couple times I went outside without a jacket, and once or twice I wondered if I could get away with wearing shorts.

Maybe people up North are used to these weird winter conditions, but this Tennessee native sure isn’t. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good snow day. In fact, I’d love nothing more this season than to frolic around campus pelting my friends with snowballs. But I won’t truly be happy with the weather situation again until I can hang out by the creek in Wildwood Park, lie in the sun to read a book and sleep outside in a hammock.