The wintertime darkness means two things: waking up is harder and a car’s best feature is the heated seats. With the sun only shining for 10 hours a day, students live in oversized hoodies in classrooms too hot and hallways too cold. Leaving practices at 5:00 p.m. or later means driving home in the dark, subject to hours of homework with no sun. Even with all the winter blues and school year slumps, students still find the little things to look forward to during the coldest and darkest days.
Sarah Enders, sophomore, said she looks forward to decorating a snowman with her family every year. Natalie Dare, senior, said she enjoys staying home and making hot chocolate with her friends and family. Dustin Rawllings, senior, said he likes going to the library with his mom to check out cookbooks. Winter in Kirkwood, snow or not, means a decorated downtown and St. Louis’s annual traditions, something Carter Chen, junior, can relate to.
“It’s cool to see the lights at [Missouri Botanical Garden’s] Garden Glow,” Chen said. “I like going through with my family. It’s [our] tradition.”
The Garden Glow has been a St. Louis tradition for the past 11 years, complete with fire pits for roasting marshmallows and hot chocolate to sip while roaming the park. However, Andrew Morff, junior, said his favorite place to spend his time during the winter season is in the KHS gyms.
“I am the basketball manager for [the KHS team],” Morff said. “I [get] water for the team, to make sure they [stay hydrated].”
Chen said his family also visits the St. Louis Zoo’s Wild Lights and Tilles’ Park Winter Wonderland every year. He said his favorite place to go is Tilles’ Park because he can stay warm and catch up with his family.
“I drive through Tilles’ Park with my family,” Chen said. “They have a bunch of lights set up [around the park,] and they play music.”
Tilles’ Park Winter Wonderland is open Nov. 22 through Dec. 30, from 5:00 to 9:00. Morff also enjoys going to Tilles’ Park and watching the lights with his family.
“We used to make the Polar Express out of [our] van [to drive through Tillies’],” Morff said. “This year we have two cars, so we’re going to attempt to make it [again.] We have lights that we hang in our car, and we connect a phone [to the car.] We play Christmas music and drive around while we look at lights.”
