Regionalism (?)

It was cold; colder than Dawn could ever remember it being. Grumbling to herself she swung her legs out of bed and as her feet touched the ground she stifled a yelp as she felt the cold, frozen floor under her bare toes. Wrapping the blanket round her she shuffled over to the window. Of course, ever since she moved here to Fredonia it never failed to amaze her how much snow they got. Not only that but for some reason they never canceled classes. Moving up here from Florida was a big culture. Fredonia should’ve had a sign posted on it that said ‘Welcome to small town USA’. She shouldn’t complain though. It was one of the main reasons she came here. It wasn’t a large town. Everyone could say hi to one another even if they didn’t know who they were speaking to and it wasn’t considered weird. Their main street that held all the bars was considered “downtown”. That idea made her laugh out loud. All the bars were basically around the block from each other. It still amazed her that she could walk from one to another without having to travel far. There didn’t need to be a DD because everything was in a reasonable amount of walking distance.
Dawn shook herself and started preparing for the day. When she moved here she had to go shopping immediately once the winter came. A hooded sweatshirt was not sufficed to keep off the onslaught of cold that seemed to attack this region. She pulled on her big boots and her heavy winter coat. Settling her hat on her head and wrapping the lower half of her face in a scarf she headed out the door. Immediately stepping out of the door the cold hit her and stripped all warmth from her body. If she walked fast enough she could get some of the heat back into her feet at least. It wasn’t the cold that she hated so much, it was the wind. Fredonia seemed to always have a wind blowing from somewhere through the college campus. It always managed to find the crack in her heavy winter armor and relentlessly dug deeper until the chill went down to her bones. Only then did it feel like it let up a little but she always thought that was because she couldn’t feel it anymore.
Getting to class was always a chore. Dawn always gets distracted by the scenery. She may not like the cold but she liked the way things looked covered in snow. This particular morning she couldn’t help but admire the trees. They had an ice storm the other night (go figure) and the trees were covered with the sleek mass of frozen water. The icicles made the branches so heavy that they hung low to the ground. Dawn slowed down and broke off one of the smaller ones toward the end of the branch. She knew that getting cold enough, and if the ice was heavy enough, the tree would crack and break. She didn’t think that happened too often around these parts but then she didn’t know for sure. It had only been a few months since she moved up here. She turned back with the icicle in her gloved hand and sucked on it as she started moving faster again. The water tasted cool and clean and she enjoyed it as it slid down her throat.
Along the way she stopped in the Williams Center to get a cup of coffee. Being to class on time be damned she was going to try to at least get something warm in her before she got there. It would perk her up before she had to go and watch the middle school students pretend to learn. It was ridiculous the teaching methods that the teachers were using over there at the Dunkirk school. They taught reading by using pictures. Ridiculous, as if that is really going to help the students. It was no wonder that those children were testing so low on the state exams. It amazed her how atrocious their spelling was as well. It’s disgusting really that even the teachers don’t seem to care anymore.
Dawn gently sipped her steaming hot Irish Crème Latte and headed off to class again. It was only over in one of the McEwen lecture halls but she always made it a point to get there a little earlier. She was just so cold. Walking along she felt her blood pumping again but she was afraid that if she hadn’t gotten the coffee into her she was going to freeze. She really needed to earn her New York thick skin soon or else she would never survive in this town. Opening the doors that led to her classroom she paused as she didn’t see a huddled mass around the door. It was odd because almost everyone waited outside the door until the class was about to start. Walking to the doors she saw a sign posted. ‘McCords American Lit class is canceled today.’ Well go figure. What are the odds of that? Dawn smiled to herself and headed back to her room. She was calling in sick and going back to snuggle in her warm bed.