Antarctica in Indiana

7:50. I just might make it. I'd forgotten to set my alarm last night - not that it would have mattered since they invented the snooze button. Fifteen minutes to get ready for philosophy class was pushing it for me. It was a small class and Professor Deaton always knew who was missing. He marked your grade down for attendance, or lack there of. I quickly flicked the curtain open to check the weather. You never knew in NW Indiana. It could be snowing, raining, windy, sunny and hailing all in the same day.

I had to do a double take. Not a good sign. I could barely see the ground just three stories down. Snow. Great. The clock was ticking as I pulled out my mittens and scarf. I might even go for the hat today. Not very hip, but looks like it might be necessary. I shoved it in my pocket. I glanced over at Joe...well, a lump I figured was Joe. How did he get away without an 8 o'clock as a freshman? I grabbed my backpack and slipped out the door.

Taking the stairs a flight at a time, I tried to brace myself for the blast of wind I was about to step into. There was just simply no way to prepare for the Tundra in November. I stopped in between floors one and two and thought for a moment. Precious time being taken up, but did I really need to attend class today? It was the day before Thanksgiving break, after all. How many other people would be in class on this glorious day? I peered out the window. It gave me a chill just looking at it. I glanced back up the stairwell.

The Tundra. About 45,000 square feet of nothingness. No trees, no bushes, no sidewalk even. Just bare ground, now piling up with snow and a wind that knocked the breath out of you. This was pure torture. I checked my watch. 7:55. I had to get going or I wouldn't make it. Professor Deaton made you sit up front if you were late. No slipping in the back. I jumped the last flight of stairs and pushed out the door before my brain had a chance to stop me again.

It was cold. Bitter cold. The building gave me a wind break at first, but I took a breath and held it as I stepped into the parking lot to head toward the Tundra. The wind hit me like a Mac truck. I sucked in a little more breath, not believing that was possible, and ducked my head. Clumsily I fumbled for my hat. Damn the hair. My ears would fall off if I didn't put it on now.

I ran thru the parking lot toward the snow. This was insane. One lucky thing about the Tundra was the wind blew across it so much, there was rarely snow on it. No trying to tromp thru a foot or more. And when there was snow on it, unless you were the unlucky one to have a frickin' 8 o'clock class, there were foot paths to follow - other hapless students trucking to class across Antarctica. Today the wind was blowing so hard, I don't think any snow actually hit the ground. It was blowing from my right side to my left. Thankfully class was just a bit to the left, so I wasn't heading into the wind. My head was ducked as low as I could without walking blind. Ha. Walking blind. The snow was helping with that. I'm surprised there weren't more student on student collisions. Oh, that would be terrible. Crash into someone else and knock each other out, laying there in the bitter cold and snow. Certainly we'd die. It was a Lutheran school, so maybe there was something to this God thing. It was uncool and very freshman-like to run across the Tundra, but that building was so close and I was so cold, I didn't care.

I slipped into a seat in the back of the room. "Ah, Mr Peresta, right on time today, I see." Well, at least my ears hadn't fallen off.