Winter Weather

It's hard getting up in the winter.

For the last couple of weeks it has been increasingly more difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Whenever that starts happening, it’s usually a sign that winter is on its way back. Usually I set my phone alarm to ring at 6:30am every morning (except on the weekends!) but to be honest, I usually sleep right through it. I’ve tried different approaches to waking myself up, like having my phone just out of arm’s reach so I have to turn it off by getting up, setting multiple alarms at random intervals after the first alarm and having my phone close to me so it’s louder. Although some of these methods work at times, I find myself becoming used to the same routine until it’s ineffective. For example, when I tried to set multiple alarms, I’d start half-waking up just to turn off the alarm subconsciously before going back to sleep. All of this is made harder during the winter months when it gets colder! I like to blame my reluctance to get up out of bed in the morning on the fact that our house isn’t insulated enough, but I probably shouldn’t be making excuses for what ultimately is more likely just laziness.

Once I pull myself out of bed to get ready for uni, there usually isn’t enough time to eat a proper breakfast (terrible, I know!) so I’m out the door and on the bus in a matter of minutes. Waiting at bus stops in the rain can be annoying too, depending on the wind direction. If the wind blows the rain towards the bus stop, I’m left huddling to the back wall of the bus stop because I’d get wet if I stepped out any further – not to mention that the seats would be all wet too. Luckily most of the time, my bag is packed with an umbrella so it keeps my head dry. What I always worry about though is that when I am holding my umbrella, all the rain will run off the back of my umbrella and on to my bag that’s sticking out the back! I usually feel safer strapping my bag to the front of my body so that I can see if it gets wet or not, but then I end up looking like a weirdo. In the rain.

I never know what to do with a wet umbrella when I finally reach uni because I can’t exactly put it back in my bag, but I don’t want to have to carry it around all day either. Thankfully most of our lecture rooms have air-conditioning so I try to find a position in the lecture theatre that has a bit of air flow so that my umbrella can dry as it lies by my feet on the floor.

Puddles forming everywhere is another product of rainy winter weather. Especially those massive ones on the curb near intersections. Whenever I approach a large puddle, I make mental calculations in my head as to whether or not I think I can jump it. Usually I chicken out at the last minute, mainly because of the embarrassment I’d bring myself if there were others around who saw my failed attempt at jumping over a puddle.

Ironically, as I’ve been typing this post, the weather has gone from being overcast to being somewhat sunny and clear. Good one, God. I like Your style!