The snow on the ground of New Paltz has become a new, cruel fact of my life. It’s bad enough being upstate without a car (something you Long Islanders may not relate to; this city girl’s working legs are her only mode of transportation), but my journey to work has turned into an annoyingly long walk, to a hazardous slip and slide. Walking on the sidewalks has become a guessing-game that requires focus and sharp reflexes, because if that patch of seemingly soft snow you’re stepping on has frozen over to ice, your feet are flying out from under you, and you better catch yourself quick. The unnerving feeling of my feet slipping under me has become a familiar sensation, and as I walk into town I no longer resemble (what I thought was) the cool college girl who could run into Penn Badgley at any moment, but the friend who was dragged onto an ice rink, shuffling on their skates and clutching the wall in fear. While this is my first time experiencing how brutal a Hudson Valley winter can be, I know it’ll just make summer that much sweeter.
