Open letter to the weather

Subject: Open letter to the weather
From: Dave Stroh
Date: 14 Jul 2015

Dear weather,
On behalf of all the students at this university (and other schools in the area), I would like to thank you for the recent snow days you have provided us. Your fluffy white excuse to stay home from classes was a blessing to all.
For those who have been struggling to find time for friends, these two days off were just what the doctor ordered: time to catch up and enjoy one another’s company over a hot chocolate or an Irish coffee, time to plop down on the couch and watch a nostalgic movie. These snow day memories will always be cherished; they help complete the college experience.
Two days off allowed for stress-free studying for those of us behind on our homework. Just when readings and assignments began to pile up, you threw a wrench into class schedules and cut us all a little slack. In return, we’ll cut you a little slack for giving the South such a hard time.
What’s better than curling up next to a fire on a cold winter day? Gathering around a prematurely lit “Beat Duke Week” bonfire, that’s what. The beauty of the fire’s flickering light illuminating Memorial Chapel can’t be reproduced accurately in Instagram posts. Only in our hearts can we ever relive that feeling, surrounded by fellow Terps as we engaged in late-night borderline vandalism.
Getting a few extra days of sleeping in — after weeks of early-morning wake-up calls and zombie-like walks to ride the struggle bus — has rejuvenated the exhausted students of College Park (not including the “my first class is at 2 p.m.” kids we upperclassmen can’t stand). It seems the Sandman finally won out over Father Time — with some help from Mother Nature.
Snowball fights on McKeldin Mall and elsewhere on the campus brought out the kid in all of us. Those precious moments from childhood came flooding back like an avalanche (no pun intended). Nothing says “let’s have fun” like catching a ball of frozen water in the face. The snowman armies that popped up outside dorms will be reminders of the gift you gave us for weeks to come — barring a heat wave, of course, which would also be worthy of a thank-you note (hint, hint).
And last but certainly not least, thanks for letting us enjoy the beauty of our campus with a lovely layer of pure white snow. The mall and many other areas came alive with the untouched blanket that was dropped from the heavens. Trees and shrubs looked as if they were fresh out of a Thomas Kinkade painting or a Robert Frost poem.
So good looks, weather. You should be receiving a mini-muffin basket in the mail any day now. It would have been there earlier, but, you know … the weather.
Thanks again,
Dave Stroh
P.S. Mind sending another one of those snowstorms our way again soon? Say, around midterms?

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