Winter can sure be one tough mother sometimes, can’t it? I mean, just when we thought we’d seen the last of it, just when we thought we were all cleared for landing, just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water … she dumps on us. Big time.

You see, Winter is this cruel lady in the sky who enjoys exhaling on the world. She starts out slow in late October and November with a gentle breeze. Then, come December, she really gets going and puffs with all her might. This explains that nasty smell that hangs around in the morning that we always pass off on factories.

This lasts through mid-February. Here she stops to take a deep breath, which explains the annual three days of warmth. Then she lets it all out in big fashion.

I don’t know about you, but winter has always been a depressing time for me. I’ve never known why for sure, although there’s not a lack of reasons to blame it on.

When I was younger, it could have been the elementary school recesses. I always had to stand against the wall because I could never remember to wear my friggin’ boots. In high school, winter was the time that I’d settle in for a losing basketball season. You gotta love the Marshalltown Bobcats. It’s a shame they don’t have a sport involving the production of meth because my town would be a champion.

Now, I don’t know whether it’s second-round tests or that my skin cracks off my face when I walk to class, but something about this weather is pretty dang depressing.

All these factors definitely contribute, but I think it all boils down to a lack of sun. You see, in addition to making us miserable with her breath, this crone in the sky is blocking out the sun.

This is a known fact — people realize what is happening. They try to fix it somehow. Many will try to shine away there sorrows by tanning. I’ve tried it, and I’ll never try it again. Let’s just say that I couldn’t sit down for three days — not a pretty sight.

Others will try to get outside despite the negative wind chill factor. Here again you run into the problem of having no skin on your face. It still seems like a good idea to some because even though the ground is covered in snow, occasionally the sun will show itself. But tell me how good you think it is when you’re in the hospital with burnt eyeballs.

The fact is there is simply no replacement for this giant gasball. The same sun we take so much for granted in the summer is the one thing we miss in the winter. And because we don’t have it, many of us get depressed.

But alas, there is good news. You’ve survived four and a half long months of the loathsome breath of winter. Yes, this last blizzard will be hard to get past, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Spring.

This season always seemed to save me. Just when I thought I was at the end of my rope, it would appear in all its splendor. The sun would start shining, the flowers would start blooming and the robins would start chirping. Like melting the snow from the sidewalks, it always erased any feelings of depression I had.

Spring is like the relief pitcher in a baseball game. You may think that your starter will make it the whole game, but the fact is, come the eighth, his pitches have no juice. You bring in the relief at just the right time to finish the game and give you a win.

And what better symbol of spring is there than Spring Break? Today, the campus of Iowa State will be virtually vacated as students will travel to all ends of the world to enjoy this time. But don’t fret if you have to stay in Iowa. Enjoy your week of rest and keep pressing on, because there are better times ahead.

Winter may still be blowing, but hang on. She’s almost out of breath.

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Jackson Lashier is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Marshalltown.