I’m from San Diego, which means that during the holiday season, shopping malls and public spaces use soap bubble machines to simulate snow.
A photo from my high school with a “snow” machine.
This meant that coming to Yale was absolutely bonkers-iana grande, because it meant that I was going to experience living through an entire season of snow for the first time. And you would think that after four years of living in New Haven, I’d be less gobsmacked every time that it does snow. But of course, each time I see the little snowflake icon on my weather app, my jaw drops just a little. This being my final winter in New Haven, I knew I had to soak up as much snow-gorgeous-wonderland-magic as possible before it was too late.
It first happened on a Sunday night in January. I was just about to leave for my friend’s house, when I glanced outside to find the world suddenly blanketed in white.
The view from my door.
Before stepping out, I turned around and grabbed my earbuds. I knew that the walk to my friend’s would take about 10 minutes, so I decided I ought to curate the perfect vibe for my journey. I queued something by Sufjan Stevens and Faye Webster, and I embarked on the most magical little walk through New Haven I’ve had all school year. Something about the streets being completely empty felt especially surreal. While the air and ground were bitingly cold, the quiet atmosphere felt almost warm, soft, and inviting. I don’t think I even got to the Faye Webster song (sorry queen) because I took out my earbuds and needed to hear the sound of the snowfall, or really, the lack thereof. All I could hear were my own footsteps. It was amazing.
That week, snow was a gift that kept on giving. Me and some friends decided we should head to the Yale Farm to go sledding. Short of sleds, we grabbed two shoe matts, a garbage lid, and an Ikea bag (ensuring to cover our bases), and made our way to a giant hill adjacent to the farm. Once we got there, we realized the hill honestly wasn’t really steep enough to make an Ikea bag work. That, and the snow had melted or something overnight because a lot of grass was peeking through. Nevertheless! We were able to catch some speed on the shoe matts, and we ran into a handful of other friends who had the same idea. One person even brought a snowboard.
Putting in the work.
Scooting along…
The inevitable wipeout.
If you’re from somewhere with seasons, I doubt this sounds all that exciting. However, what I can offer is that even if snow isn’t new, snow at Yale is. You get a chance to see the campus at a different pace, cozy up in the library while snow falls outside your window, and have snowball fights with your friends from college. Granted, the weeks leading up to and after the snow are not ideal (there is a fair amount of gloom in New Haven, I won’t lie). But those first days of snow, and by extension those first days of sun, are all worth the tradeoff.
