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Every year of my academic career I have found the month we are currently slogging through, February, to be the single most depressing 28, sometimes 29, days of my year.
As students, February represents the time of the semester when we have to start buckling down and taking class slightly more seriously. The fun of being back in Boulder during January is gone, replaced by the realities of class requirements and assignments. It seems like it has no end, especially when so many people are also coming down with the annual colds and flus. During this time May can seem especially far off, or awfully close depending on your graduation date.
Compounding matters, February takes place, in what some would term, the dead of winter. Now, I am a lover of all things snow, and would not feel comfortable living in a locale that lacked seasons. However, at this point, the novelty of the bitter cold and snow-packed sidewalks has worn off. Trudging to the first midterms of the semester in normal conditions is rough enough as is.
While skiing and snowboarding certainly remain huge positives, by this time Interstate-70 has started to seriously erode my sanity. There’s no holiday magic to make everyone feel better, there is no carefree break to take advantage of, and those New Year’s resolutions have begun to fade. Virtually no one plans vacations in February due to the weather and academic schedules.
That is, unless you’re traveling to watch your favorite NFL team in the Super Bowl, which leads me to my next largest gripe about these tedious four and a half weeks.
Beyond football’s marquee sporting event, February is one of the least exciting sports months of them all. The NBA and the NHL are both grinding through the middle of their seasons and gearing up for the final playoff push, or the trade deadline if you’re LaLa Vasquez. Come on, Carmelo is leaving and we should all start to accept it.
Sure, the NBA All-Star game occurs this weekend but it lacks any real meaning beyond the possibility that Blake Griffin may do something we’ve never before seen a human being do with a basketball and a hoop.
Additionally, college basketball is winding up its conference season, preparing for what is unequivocally the most exciting event in sports, March Madness. I’ve always viewed this tournament as the cure for February madness.
We are also on the cusp of the glorious Major League Baseball season but it’s just far enough out that the distance stings as we envision lazy, warm, summer evenings in Lower Downtown Denver.
Not to leave Valentine’s Day out of this, but it can be hit or miss. It’s a Hallmark holiday, often more commercialized and forced than it is sincere and affectionate.
As a photographer, February light is not something you think to chase after to make that killer portfolio shot. The days are all too short and the colors are all too bland, unless of course you’re up skiing or riding at Keystone.
Last but certainly not least: To those who were born in this month, consider yourselves lucky. You have been given a reason to celebrate more than just frigid temperatures and short days – a significant bright spot. We all thank you.
Now that I’ve gotten all of that off of my chest, I can say some positive things about this time of year. February gives way to March, spring break included, which gives way to April and, Colorado willing, springtime in the Rocky Mountains.
Contact CU Independent Photo Editor Patrick Ghidossi at Patrick.ghidossi@colorado.edu.
