By Hilary McMurray

It’s finally begun. You know what I’m talking about — white, fluffy snow falling from the sky. I admit it, I’m a total freak. I love snow. I’ve been waiting for this since May.

Not that I didn’t enjoy summer. For about a week I was happy wearing tank tops and sandals. However, every time the outside temperature rose above 65, I spouted forth endless tirades, always ending with “(expletive deleted) this (expletive deleted), I’m moving to Yellowknife!” If you don’t know where Yellowknife is, look at a map of Canada, and then you will understand the depth of my hatred for hot weather.

Naturally, when I saw the fluffy white flakes on Friday, I could barely contain my joy, but I couldn’t go outside and play because I was at work.

What happened next didn’t shock me, but it was still upsetting. When people saw the snow, they swore, they complained and their smiles turned into frowns. What was wrong with these people? Was I the only one who wasn’t ready to slit my wrists over the fact that it was snowing?

Besides the fact that snow is pretty, fun to play in, fun to play with and fun to form into balls and throw at unsuspecting people, snow has certain benefits that we take for granted. Snow purifies the air as it falls. Smog particles adhere to the snow, which means when there is a layer of fresh snow on the ground, the air we’re breathing is a little cleaner.

All of us smokers should really enjoy the breath of fresh air snow gives us.

This brings me to my next point. It’s easier to smoke in the snow than it is in the rain, because snowflakes won’t get your cigarette wet. So smokers and non-smokers alike both enjoy the benefits snow offers.

These are just the tangible benefits. Is there anyone out there who will deny that snow is just downright beautiful? Well, maybe not in cities, because it only takes about half an hour for the snow to turn gray. But even in Boston, the snow on campus is gorgeous, especially near the back of the library and afterHOURS, where that big ball thing sits. (Does anyone else wonder what happens to the fish in that little pond over the winter months?)

Why is it when we’re little kids, we love snow, but as we grow older, we hate it? In elementary school, teachers used to take a break in our lessons so we could gather around the window and watch the schoolyard become covered with snow (which, growing up in the Great Lakes region, usually took about three minutes). I ran to the windows to see the snow up until about eighth grade, when I realized that I was too old to jump out of my seat in the middle of class and shout “Yaaayyyy! Snow!” without punishment.

When I hear people say they hate snow, I always ask, “How could you hate snow?!?” The responses I hear most often are, “It’s cold,” “It’s annoying” and “Because it sucks.” Of course, I have heard many female complaints about the snow, such as, “Oh great, I have to wear a hat and it’s going to mess up my hair” and “I hate winter jackets, they make me look fat.”

What about sledding? Snowmen? Snowball fights? These are all the things about winter that little kids live for. How cute is it to see children playing in the snow, all bundled up? And how come adults don’t get those little mitten strings that thread through the sleeves of your coat so you don’t lose your mittens? Those things were really cool.

As we grow older, we lose our innocence and our playfulness. We become so caught up in our responsibility and our vanity that we forget to enjoy the things we enjoyed when we were children. Life was so simple back then, and our lives were virtually stress-free minus something like breaking a favorite toy.

Life is too short to complain about the inevitable. Complaining won’t make the snow go back up. If we can’t lighten up a little and try to get some enjoyment out of life, we are going to be miserable, and it’s proven that being happy actually makes us healthier. Get out there and play in the snow, and have some Campbell’s soup ready to throw in the microwave when you come back inside.

Forget about what you look like, forget about the fact that you have stuff to do, just get out there and regress. Just leave your inhibitions indoors, bundle up and go outside and play. You might even have fun.

– Hilary McMurray can be reached at [email protected]