Things to Do

Red-Nose Weather

Christmas Lights has come and gone, and the semester will be over before we know it!

I’ve always liked to divide the fall semester into three sections: 1) The Slow Part 2) The Fast Part and 3) Red-Nose Weather. The Slow Part is when everything is just beginning. You are getting involved with choirs, plays, sports teams, and various positions of responsibility. The Fast Part begins directly after Midterms and right before Thanksgiving; you have to be paying especially close attention to this because the switch in time is so slight, and so abrupt, you hardly notice it until it’s gained momentum, and by that time, you’re walking through airport security with your five ton carry-on—headed home for the holidays.

Red-Nose Weather, however, is everything right after Christmas Lights. It’s as if, when the whole campus sparks up with lights each December, the Winter Chill remembers a distant December duty. The days are crisp, and the mornings, frigid, and everyone passes each other to and from classes with the mark of the season upon their face—a nose with just a hint of red, so slight you blink to see if the glow has spread to their cheeks. Christmas is coming, and it heralds its song like a faint melody in their heads, a single-minded bounce in their step, and a smile upon their lips. It’s as if the winter chill holds a secret that everyone acknowledges and shares with each other in a merry, shivering glance, in steaming cups of hot chocolate next to the frosty Four Winds window panes, and huddled together in delightful evening walks, hands stuffed deep into pockets, breathing clouds of sparkling frost into the night.

Each conversation begins with a “Brrr” or a “I should have worn my coat today.” Saturdays leave the campus streets vacant as each student seeks out a cozy nook to curl up with a stack of books, ready to face the last few weeks with a freshened sense of determination. Each smell, each sight, each sound recalls to the mind of each student a warm memory from home. The holidays seem like they are nearer than ever, and the few weeks that have settled themselves comfortably and conspicuously between you and your holiday, like unwelcome guests to a rather exclusive dinner party.

Enjoy these days--these are always some of my most memorable ones on campus! They are the few special days which suggest at the days to come, the days which give just the push you need to finish strong in classes, the days which make you both want to go home and want to come back all in one moment. These are the days of the Red-Nose Weather.

Ok, so I spent all this time describing “Red-Nose Weather” on a chilly day, and then it got warm again! But that’s just one more thing I love about the holidays here—you never know what to expect! Have a wonderful last week here on campus!

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The thoughts and opinions expressed in Life in the Nest are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Pensacola Christian College.

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Major: Performance Studies

Home town: “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through...” Also, my dad is in the Air Force.

View all posts by Anna Grace

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