Winter Depression: Moods change with the weather

Joshua Botti-Anderson, Staff Writer

The desolate, dark hostility of winter is coming to an end, as the naked, brown earth emerges from beneath the soil. The scorched remnants of late August remind us that by the end of the summer the heat and dryness grows to such a degree that most life is killed off before even the first frosts of fall. In spite of this accepted fate, the formally snow-covered hills and plains emerge full of moisture and nutrients, its seeds and roots beginning to swell with the fertility of mother nature. Once again, for the short period of three months, the land will be lush with thick foliage, vibrant with clusters of wildflowers, and buzzing with the sounds of insects and birds.

 

Junior Will Winslow holds that the long period of deprivation brought on by winter helps to increase the appreciation for the spring and summer months.

  

Winslow acknowledges the changes and harshness accompanied by the seasons of Montana. He says that the transition, from season to season, is more significant in altering people’s moods than the actual weather experienced during the seasons.

“I think it’s more of the change of weather,” says Winslow.

 

Strangely enough, Winslow actually enjoys the winter weather, as it becomes colder, darker, and overall just way, way crappier. He justifies this assertion by pointing out that Montana’s long winter months make it easier to enjoy the nicer weather brought on by spring.    

“I enjoy when it changes to winter because i like the cold air and the snow. But then, at the end of winter, I am ready for the warm weather, and it feels great,” said Winslow.

 

To Winslow, winter is an important part of life, as it forces the individual to have a more positive outlook on the lighter sides of the weather.

“It just makes you appreciate it more.”