I went ice skating today! It was a lot of fun, but it was a really weird feeling to go ice skating in warm weather. At home, I get bundled up in scarves, gloves, and layers upon layers of clothing in the winter. It is a ritual every time you go outside in the winter in the Midwest, and you have to allow yourself an extra ten minutes at least to get ready before leaving the house (excluding time to scrape off your icy windshield)! As much as I do not miss shoveling the driving, scraping my car, or sitting in an icebox when going anywhere, I think people in southern California have no idea what a real winter is like, and it makes me kind of sad. They’ll never know the feeling of a warm cup of hot cocoa after playing out in the snow or the satisfaction of finally shoveling the last patch of the driveway, even though it snowed another two inches in the time it took you to finish. Most importantly, they’ll never know how wonderful spring seems after weeks of below freezing temperatures. I’ll never forget that first day it hit the 50s in March, or April, and everyone wore shorts, shirts, and flip-flops to school. Here, if it ever gets down to 50 60, people freak out and are in winter jackets that I wear in January in Chicago! Now, I don’t claim that I don’t put a sweatshirt or jacket on when it gets in the 60s here, but some people take it too far. Sometimes I just wish I still experienced the magic of the first snowfall as the white intricate snowflakes glide and flutter gracefully from a dark night sky. When you awaken in the morning and lookout the window to see a magical white wonderland. The best is when you wake up to a phone call to find you have a snow day and school is canceled.
My favorite place to ice skate at home is in Chicago at Millennium Park. It is a beautiful place to go after a long day of shopping right at dusk. With the snow falling and Christmas lights on the city looks absolutely beautiful!
Ice skating today made me think about all of this. At home ice skating is just another part of winter. Here, it takes on a different meaning. It was a ton of fun, don’t get me wrong, but it just wasn’t the same as ice skating on a frozen pond in my friend’s backyard or in downtown Chicago.
We’ll see if I’m still happy when I had back home for Thanksgiving on Tuesday! haha
Watching: SNL (first time in a loonnnngggg time!)
Listening to: Christmas music?!?! (not too much yet)
Reading: The Great Gatsby (for the 3rd or more time!)
☮♥ =) arianna
