The weather has been a little unusual this year, to say the least. Not only did we have a long and hot summer, fall lasted barely a second; and now, we’re dealing with winter temperatures. Fall in Wisconsin is beautiful: the colored leaves lines up along the lake, and the brisk weather lets you cozy up even though it’d still be warm enough to do things outside. This year, however, the dust was barely off anyone’s favorite pair of fall boots when we started bundling up in parkas and hats.
The sun was shining pretty much every day from when the first students moved in until all the way through mid-October — you could get away with wearing shorts on any day. Then, in the blink of an eye, it’s 30 degrees outside, and the wind is literally making your eyes water. Normally, there’s a lovely period of time where the weather is in the mid 50s: you can wear sweaters and boots, and you can do all your favorite fall activities. This year, no one got their fix of apple-picking, pumpkin spice lattes or fall scented candles. We were robbed of our Wisco fall and forced straight into winter. It’s definitely not fair.
People here love fall for so many reasons. One of them is the views on the different lakes — they are pretty much unbeatable and might even rival all those fall landscapes we see on our Pinterest boards. It’s cozy and colorful, and everyone gets to bring out their favorite clothes and take Insta-worthy pictures in a leaf pile. It marks the start of a new school year, and of course, Badger football. However, summer weather went well into our usual allotted fall time; as a result, we were left with sunburn from September football games and dorms that were way too hot to be comfortable. Even then, we all expected fall to be just a little delayed, not skipped over altogether!
So here’s to the beautiful fall season that us Wisconsinites didn’t get to thoroughly experience this year! Hopefully next year will bring us a gorgeous, full autumn to compensate for this year’s disappointment.
Now, we all have to face the fact that our favorite season was all too short — get ready to go through winter. It’s going to be long and hard — and probably very cold if the past years are anything to go by. Buy yourself a fall scented candle from Bath & Body Works to get you through it — don’t forget to put on your favorite fuzzy socks and make yourself some hot chocolate. It might not be as beautiful as fall, but remember that snow glistening over Lake Mendota isn’t a bad view, either.