A New England Spring by Beatriz Valdez
and what that means for incoming prefrosh (from outside of NE)
In a conversation I was having with my good buddy, Quinton, today about the current weather and the sudden drop in temperature from last week, he gently reminded me, “You chose to live here in Massachusetts”. To which I thought, “You’re darn right, pal!” But of course, now that I live in Cambridge, MA, how do I come to terms with the fact that I will NEVER have a pleasantly warm spring break? Hmm…well, there are a few ways to enjoy a New England spring and it does have its’ charms, I suppose.
- First way to enjoy a spring in Cambridge: Find the appropriate attire.
Now, when I arrived to the Cambridge area from Colorado, I instantly became acutely aware of the fact that I could not gauge the weather here and, moreover, I did not have the appropriate attire to gauge the weather; for me, it was either really cold from head to toe or very warm up top with my tootsies freezing. Let me explain with some visuals:
Bea in CO from November to February
Bea in CO from March to October
As time progressed and I became more aware of my surroundings (and somewhat more worldly), I stumbled upon this!!!
Real live couple enjoying (that’s Ms. Natalie Portman) enjoying a New England Spring, I presume.
Not only did I become a bit more stylish with the aquisition of the peacoat, but I found that happy medium between breaking into a sweat in my all-weather/terrain-goose-feather-stuffed-poked-and-prodded-super-hyper-ultra-warm jacket and, say, catching hypothermia because I was only warming my tootsies with Uggs.
2. Second way to enjoy a New England spring: Rainboots! And lots of them!
So, as you now know, I am from Colorado and the area in which I grew up had a very dry and arid climate. I hardly ever had to watch out for rainstorms in the spring (or any time, for that matter). In fact, if there was a rainstorm in the spring, there was a good chance tornado sirens would be wailing throughout the storm. But anywho! One of the big things I learned about Cambridge springs is that there is rain involved and lots of it. And lots of rainboots are involved. So many rainboots, in fact, that there many different kinds from which to choose.
These are my EXACT rainboots and I actually made sure I purchased rainboots with a heel because I like to feel tall when I stand in puddles I am short.
3. Third way to enjoy a New England spring: Fiddlehead Ferns
If there’s one thing I learned about Cambridge in the spring, is that people eagerly await the arrival of spring not for the weather, but for fiddlehead ferns (in fact, I found an article written in 2008 announcing the arrival of 2000 lbs of fiddlehead ferns in Boston!). So, what exactly are they? Well, according to my trusty source (Wiki, to be exact) they are “the furled fronds of young fern…[and] are a source of Omega 3 and Omega 6”. In other words, it’s good for you and it’s definition is an alliteration. Also, you might look like this when you eat it:
