Staff members tell us what they love about winter—151 of them

Recently, 151 staff members told us what they love about the winter season. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate (see responses below). All names were entered into a random prize drawing and the following colleagues are winners: Anjelica Martin, Immunobiology; Tammy Johnson, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs; Nicholas Pierce, University Libraries; Lindsey Fraczkiewicz, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Soheila Najafzadeh, Radiology Biomedical Imaging. The winners will be contacted by email shortly.

Name	Department	What do you love about the winter season?
Kathryn Racicot	Clinical Trials Office	Watching my dog play in the snow. She is a complete snow bunny and could spend hours out there!
Mary McGovern	Employee Service Center	I love the quiet when the snow is falling and the blue, blue sky after a daytime snow storm.
Nicole Chardiet	History of Art	I love watching my 9-year-old twin boys play hockey. This weekend they will play at an outdoor rink. You can enjoy a hot cocoa while enjoying the fast- paced thrills of the game.
Frank Avitable	Psychiatry	The sun gleaming on the snow and ice on the trees creates a magical landscape.
Andrea Scott	Central Registration	What I love the most about the winter season is the scenery. Especially after a new snowfall, the snow is so fresh and pure, it makes everything look like a winter wonderland!
Abbie Storch	Yale University Press	Twinkly lights in windows!
Donna Nelson	Yale Medicine Credit Balance Team	Enjoying the Holidays with friends and family
Ryan Cool	Psychiatry	I love ice skating and playing hockey outside. My friends and I built an outdoor rink in my nonnies backyard and would hang out at night, playing hockey and enjoying each others company.
Julianna Maisano	Pediatrics	The beautiful silence and glow after a snow storm and watching the sunset on the horizon at Sunset Beach in Branford.
Cara-lyn Capozzi	Development-Major Gifts	Watching the snow fall, how excited my son gets when it’s snowing and he can’t wait to go out and play in it!
Mayra Ortiz	Yale Psychiatry	Coffee shops and reading a book
Meredith Phillips	Yale University Press	To be completely honest, I do not love much about winter. But in the spirit of looking for the good in everything, I will say that it gives me ample time for solitary pursuits such as writing because I go outside as little as possible.
Tricia Neely	Air Force ROTC	My children and I LOVE New England winters! The crisp, cool air…a roaring fire…smores and hot chocolate! Making snowmen and sledding! Watching the falling snow. We love it all! Especially that there are no bugs in the winter!!!
Kathleen Rizzo	Central Business Office	My home sits adjacent to a very large farm in North Haven. The winter sunsets across the barren fields especially with new fallen snow are majestic. The fields reflect the gorgeous orange and yellow colors, which seem to light up the entire house!
Melissa Morrissey	Facilities	The unpredictability of it. Winter’s beauty and the transformation it makes into Spring.
Jennifer Gambaccini-Denillo	Department of Music	The peaceful quiet when it snows.
Jamie Batson	Pediatric Hematology/Oncology	I’m from Florida- I love getting to experience the winter holiday season in a setting that looks like the movies I grew up watching. SNOW! There’s a lot to be said for lights in palm trees but, the changing of the season is really special.
Daphne Klemme	Physics	What I love about the winter season is feeling the nip in the air and hearing the crunch of the snow when I step outside in the morning as the sun is just peeking up from the east casting a glow on the snowy ground.
Tammy Johnson	Jackson Institute for Global Affairs	I love walking around campus and New Haven looking at the beautiful scenery with friends. In the winter we can walk long and faster to get our steps in without sweating. I love walking to the small restaurants in New Haven and enjoying the delicious ethnic foods. I just love Yale and New Haven altogether.
Francesca D’Amato	Yale Graduate Housing	Getting cozy under fluffy blankets with a cup of hot coffee and snuggling with my dog!
Jennifer Pozika	School of Medicine, Financial Aid	I love watching our Bassador (Lab/Basset Hound Mix) go tearing through the yard after it has snowed; she loves plowing through the snow piles!
Risa Sodi	Yale College Dean’s Office	I love snapping winter photos, preferably in black and white.
Janice Murphy-Wallace	Yale Alumni Association	Clean, crisp air Warm cozy sweaters to wear Walking my dog and not sweating!
Joe Mastracchio	Procurement	The quiet when outdoors
Lynn Bouffard	Anesthesiology	I like it when it when we are having a snow storm, and you are able to just stay inside and be cozy the entire day—curling up with a good book or a great movie
Lesley Heffel McGuirk	Yale Alumni Association	I love taking my dogs for a walk in the snow. They always find snow so baffling, which is funny and adorable.
Michelle Torres	Yale Medicine, Authorization and Referral	When your town adorns the buildings and trees with Christmas lights, turning it into a winter wonderland especially with the snow :) Oh, and hot cocoa!
Jacqui Comshaw	Physician Assistant Online Program	My favorite thing about winter is the smell of wood burning in the fireplace. The aroma keeps me in the holiday spirit all winter long.
Anne Prodoti	Internal Medicine	No holidays to plan for and binge watching all the shows I missed with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea !
Todd Andrews	Yale Cancer Center	Warming up by a fireplace
Kate Rozen	Yale School of Architecture	I love how each phase of winter looks a little different and if you ride to work on a bike like I do, you get to see the subtle changes between early, mid and full winter with occasional glimpses of spring, like this morning when the songbirds were happily chirping.
Karyn Turcotte	Yale Medicine, Coding & Billing	I love the cold, crisp fresh air during the winter season, and my grandsons bright red cheeks after playing out in the snow for a while.
Jennifer L. Defosses	Yale Animal Resources Center	I love watching my dogs frolic in the snow. I also love taking my Jeep on the trails and seeing the beautiful snow-covered sights. Nothing beats winter in New England!
Mark Manton	Information Technology Services	Ski Patrolling at Butternut Ski Resort in Great Barrington MA. Doing this allows me to give back to people of all ages and abilities, participating in a great sport but maybe not having the best time at “this” particular moment—while enjoying being outside skiing with my friends (and of course wearing my heated boots and gloves).
Vanessa M. Travaglino	Yale Medicine	I love just hanging on the couch watching a good movie when it’s very cold out.
Anjelica Martin	Immunobiology	I love the holiday season and everyone decorating their homes with lights. I love driving past snowmen people have built after it snows and seeing videos of people’s dogs losing their minds while running around in the snow.
Michele Malerba	Internal Medicine Infectious Diseases	The fact that summer is on the way! : )
Ewa Duszkiewicz	Sterling Memorial Library, Cataloguing	Catching up on indoor activities and projects
Ekaterina Ginzburg	Yale School of Nursing	The anticipation of snow. Growing up in a snowy country, snow was ordinary and there was always tons of it. Now, I wait for every snow fall to feel the snowflakes on my eyelashes, nose. I love the cold feel of snow in my hands and to hear snow ‘talk’ when you walk on it; to see the tree branches glisten. The breath of snowy air is my meditation.
David de la Cruz	Internal Medicine, Cardiology	The falling snow seems to mute all outside background noises and brings peace and serenity to me.
Debbie Soulsby	School of Management, Development	I love watching my son and our yellow lab play together in the snow. It’s just pure joy for both of them. Afterwards, the hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and snuggles are the best.
Karn McKane	Yale Medicine	I have a beautiful rescue dog who delights in the cold weather & the snow. I love playing with her outdoors when it gets cold & snowy, to see how happy she is fills my heart with joy.
Heather Paul	Yale Medicine, Coding & Billing,Neurosurgery	I love the cold crisp air. I love a good snowstorm and the beauty it brings. As long as I am bundled up, I love to play in the snow. In my younger years I loved to ski or go sledding, but now I am older I am happy to just be in the snow. I actually enjoy shoveling it. At least when it not real wet and heavy. I love taking long walks in the snow and I will even get my camera out and take lot of pictures. My most favorite is when it snows on your day off. I light a big fire in the fireplace and make a big pot of soup. I spend the morning out in the clean crisp air and come home to hot soup and a warm fire. Doesn’t get better than that!!!
Christine Ruzek	Yale School of Management, Career Development Office	The smell in the air right before a snow fall
Erin Bailie	Animal Resources	Cold lazy Sunday mornings, watching the snow fall, drinking a hot cup of coffee, snuggled up under a blanket with my cats and a good book.
Amaar Al-Hayder	MacMillan Center	Avoiding sweating is the best thing about winter. I am originally from a hot country, and this is why I hate summer. If the weather is cold, you can put on layers, but if it’s hot, you can’t go naked! Also, snow in New England is just the perfect amount, not very heavy to cripple life, and not always slippery or absent.
Lindsey Bosak	Office of Sponsored Projects	Five months ago, I moved to New Haven from Phoenix, AZ, so this is my first snow-filled, below fifty-degrees winter in about twenty years. Aside from being able to actually wear scarves and coats, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed wandering campus on the weekends and taking pictures of the snow-capped buildings and icy courtyards.
Madalena Rose Pattacini	Yale Cancer Center, Regulatory Affairs	I love waking up on a snowy winter morning when it’s chilly in your home, but you’re nice and warm under a bunch of blankets.
Rebecca Galko	School of Management, Career Development Office	My very favorite part of the winter season is when the bare trees become coated in ice, and the morning sun shines through them in a way that makes them glow and sparkle. It is just the most beautiful sight and always takes my breath away.
Luz Wozdusiewicz	Yale Medicine, Medical Billing Compliance	Sitting in front of the fireplace with a cozy blanket, good book, and cup of coffee
Madison Savage	Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation	Drinking hot lattes, cooking warm foods, cozy sweaters, and the first few hours after snowfall when the snow is beautifully covering tree branches!
Manasa Basavaraju	Genetics	Snow, hot cocoa
Edgar Diaz	Yale School of Medicine	All the holiday spirit with everyone
Gloria A. Caprio	Central Development, Alumni Fund	I love the feeling of the crisp, fresh air on a cold and sunny day.
Heather Gendron	Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library	Wearing all the hand knits that I’ve made for myself and that my mom has made for me over the years—and seeing everyone else’s hand knits!
Toni Deponte	Yale Medicine	The first snowfall
Marybeth Bean	Center for Science and Social Science Information	When it snows on my day off and instead of fighting the snow, I can enjoy its beauty.
Melissa Hayden	Yale Medicine Heart and Vascular	I love that winter snow makes the nights brighter. The reflection of the moon light on the snow is so peaceful. I love the sparkle of the trees when the branches are iced over. The cold air is perfect for warm fuzzy socks and a nice hot cup of cocoa. Winter is my favorite season!
Michelle Sweeney	Employee Relations	I love the cold air, hot coffee, holidays, snow, and staying warm under blankets!
Carol Gunnoud	Psychiatry	Spending time outside with my grandkids
Caitlin Slattery	Student Affairs	Cheering on the Yale Women’s Ice hockey team at Ingalls Rink!
Christine Vale da Serra	Yale Center for Clinical Investigation	I love so many things about winter-—the snow, snowboarding, sledding, wearing cozy sweaters, and drinking cocoa with marshmallows after being outside on a chilly day!
Deb Marshall	Yale Medicine, Coding and Billing, Pediatrics	I love the morning when there is ice on the trees and the sun hits the branches and sparkles. Such a beautiful sight. I love hot cocoa and old holiday movies. I love everything about it.
Thais Sobczak	Yale Law School	The pure and brisk air, black and white scenery, warm and cozy home.
Charity Moore	MacMillan	Football and basketball, and dreaming of spring
Karen Alderman	Law School	I love the evening sky in winter, when the lavenders, pinks, steel blues, and whites all conspire to become the soft, pastel backdrop to the intricate lace branches of the bare trees. Even the starkest landscape becomes fascinating.
Raven Turquoise - Moon	Office of Medical Development	Warm sweaters, scarves and gloves. More darkness hours perfect for reading after work. Snow days.
Rebecca Rowley	Yale Center for Clinical Investigation	I love the snow! It is so fun to watch it fall gently on a gray day, the change it provides to the landscape, and the winter activities it brings like skiing, snowshoeing, and even shoveling.
Margaret Carnright	Yale Alumni Association, Lifelong Learning & Travel	Bundling up and taking a walk on a beautiful winter day with the sun shining!
Elizabeth Tomasco	Genetics	I love when it has just snowed and everything is covered in pristine snow. Everything is quiet and beautiful… well at least until the snowblowers come out.
Carissa Violante	Yale Alumni Association	Hammonasset Beach State Park allows leashed dogs on the beach in the winter season. It’s one of the few times a year my dog gets to enjoy the shoreline as much as I do.
Jenise Maldonado	Faculty Research Management Services	Typically I love when it is over, but with a five-year-old daughter, I love snowball fights with her and watching her make snow angels.
Mabel Goessinger	Medical Billing Compliance	I love to see my children stand outside during a snowfall catching snowflakes on their tongues.
Nicholas Pierce	University Libraries	The morning after a snow squall, hiking in the countryside and enjoying the stillness
Kat Ayers	Genetics	Watching snowflakes fall past my window while I sit and sip in front of the fireplace.
Daniel Lincoln Cress	Drama	Watching my “small-ish” Saint Bernard, Gretta, romp around in the snow!
Tanya Hindle	Yale Medicine, Coding/Billing	I love waking up to beautiful snow covered trees
Kim Thomas	Anesthesiology	I love the quiet walks in the snow and seeing the snow-covered branches.
Heather O’Connell	Office of Development	Sunny days after a snow storm are the brightest days of the year!
Susan Penney	English/Music	The light. When the sun is low in the sky and the snow is covered with a buttery yellow glow and the shadows, whether of tree trunks or footprints or buildings, are all shades of blue. And the yearly surprise and gratitude for the increase of light after the winter equinox.
Francine Georges	Athletics	I love the sight of ice glistening and sparkling off the branches of trees. It is beautiful.
Erica Sayers	English	The way a full moon on snow transforms the night.
Mary Elllen Fama	PET Center	How quiet and peaceful it is.
Jill McSorley	School of Management	Skiing!
Tara Leibenhaut	Facilities	Being able to see through the trees when all the leaves are down.
Ellen Cole	Yale Alumni Magazine	As soon as it begins, we start heading back towards summer! The days start getting longer again right after the winter solstice.
Shelly Chastain	Internal Medicine	The crisp, cold air feels and smells clean. Cuddling by the fire, watching fresh snow fall…and the way fresh snow makes everything look clean and new.
Alexa Tomassi	Pediatrics	I love the way the snow sticks to the trees and how everything is so bright the morning after fresh snow!
Christina Castellani	MacMillan	I love being able to still get outdoors and go skiing and snowshoeing!
Neha Agarwal	Information Technology Services	Winter to me “looks like” peeking outside the windows waiting for the sun; “feels like” cozy in the blanket I knit this year; “sounds like” quiet and serene, the only noise you can hear is the river flowing downstream during my walks; “smells like” lavender, cinnamon apple (my favorite yankee candles) and “tastes like” my special home made ginger tea. You can see me out during lunchtime enjoying walks on a nice sunny winter day with my colleagues, happy winter to you all!
Kari L B Coyle	History of Art	With everything covered in a blanket of white, I love how the snow reflects the moon’s glow. The environment is quiet and peaceful. The air is crisp and fresh. And, my surroundings lit with a scattering of diamond dust. It’s a sense that you don’t acquire with any other season. That is what I love about New England Winters.
Samantha Sanborn	Psychiatry, Prime Clinic	My most favorite thing about the winter is the changing smells. Smelling the cold and snow, also the food and baked goods are so different in winter. The smells of winter bring back positive memories for me.
Jason Zentz	Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office	Cozy indoor activities, winter break with family and friends, the stillness and beauty of fresh snow
Renee Hile-Signore	Yale Center for Clinical Investigation	I love the way the sky looks and the air smells just before a snow storm comes. Once it starts, I enjoy taking a walk in the freshly falling snow and the beauty of it all
Lynelle Ramos	Yale Medicine	I love being snowed in and having movie night with the kids after baking a sweet treat! With a busy schedule full of responsibility, it’s one of the few occasions where I feel completely guilt free about doing absolutely nothing, but indulging with my kiddos!
Katie Darr	Yale School of Music	I love the view of West Rock from my dining room window. During the summer months, it’s obscured by leafy trees—but in the winter the view is unobstructed and it blazes red with the sunrise.
Preston Mock	School of Drama	When going outside is no longer an option, you immediately have the potential to do nothing but curl up on your couch, and dig into those series, books or films you’ve been meaning to get to for a while. Mother Nature’s Mental Health Day!
Wendy Folsom	Pathology	How beautiful everything is after a snow storm.
Stephanie Smith	Drama	Drinking hot tea or coffee while watching the snow fall outside my window!
Tina Severson	Alumni Engagement & Development	Hiking through the snow with my dogs off-leash because no one else is crazy enough to be on the trails.
Anna Florczak	Yale Health	I don’t just see snow and cold; to me it becomes a winter wonderland; it’s my laid-back time of the year, cozy up by the fire, relax. It’s an amazing time of year with lights on all the downtown trees, sipping hot cider or cocoa; it’s snuggling season.
Terri Stenquist	Specialty Payer Management	Snow days—winter-weather cooking at home with my family, quiet time, and being a bit of a couch potato. :)
Michelle Gall	Divinity School Development	A fire in the fireplace, my children safe at home, a hot cup of tea, a good book, & my dog Lulu snuggled up next to me in my Happy Chair
Karen Lucarelli	Tax/Controller’s office	During the winter months, I most look forward to watching the snow fall out my living room window, with a fire in the fireplace and a glass of wine in my hand! There’s something beautiful and magical about freshly-fallen snow.
Soheila Najafzadeh	Radiology Biomedical Imaging	Cozy up by the fireplace at your favorite resort or country inn or even at home watching beautiful trees full of snow and drinking hot chocolate or tea reading a book
Anna Nelayev	Controller Office	The winter holiday season: presents under the tree, family and friends gatherings, hot chocolate on a cold snowy day, new beginnings after the ball drops.
Audrey Pearson	Beinecke Library	I love being able to wear cozy sweaters and burn spice-scented candles with my cats beside me, and knowing there’s the possibility for my favorite atmospheric phenomenon: thundersnow!
Harshal Dixit	Information Technology Services	Winter to me Looks like when someone shook the snow globe Feels like cold wind blowing on face while out skiing with kids Sounds like Christmas carols and Holiday songs Smells like fresh-cut Christmas trees and slow cooking food delicacies Tastes like hot cocoa with marshmallows or eggnog YET, I look forward to my walk on a breezy summer evening on Jennings beach while holding wife’s hand.
Bernie Staggers	Yale Center British Art	I love the quiet still beauty of the sun rising quietly through the trees, casting long wonderful shadows across the fresh fallen snow covered fields.
Sherie McGregor	Financial Systems & Solutions	There is no love for the cold here, but the effects of winter weather can be amazing. Icicles that form drip by drip from a local bookstore’s ledge. The ice-wrapped branches of trees that glisten in the sun or under street lights after an ice storm. The first snowfall that covers, or hides, everything in shivering white, this is especially lovely when watching from the warmth of home.
Laura Siqueiros	Yale Center for Clinical Investigation	Sitting by the fireplace on a cold winter night
Catherine Marganski	Internal Medicine, School of Medicine	I love hiking in the winter. There is a sense of peace walking thru snow-covered trails. There is usually no wind in the woods, which makes it for a very cozy hike.
Alison Cunningham	Yale Divinity School	There is a white hellebore in my garden that blooms in January— and as it is in bud, the anticipation of its glorious blooms begins. This year, the plant was full of buds and 2 weeks ago, they opened. It’s a joy to see the blossoms as I walk past the plant each day, reminding me that spring will return.
Kay Ratanasaka	Information Technology Services	Fresh fallen snow. It’s so beautiful, calming and cleansing.
Ann Minton	Anthropology	I love winter because of outdoor sports like skiing, snowshoeing, skating, sledding, or just walking the dog. And looking at the stars at night—they twinkle more on the snow-covered fields. If you are dressed correctly, you can love it all! So what I love most is a big warm sweater, a fluffy coat, soft scarf, hat, and gloves, to enable me to enjoy every minute.
Crystal Adamchek	Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology	I love holding meetings with the MCDB undergraduates in my brand new office in YSB—and serving them hot cocoa, or hot apple cider before the winter break!
Karen Messina	Pediatric Specialty	I love when it all thaws and goes away.
Leslie Laing	Yale Medicine	Snow days with my dogs & a good book!
Ann Mattie	School of Public Health	I love the feeling of living in a snow globe, watching from inside while the snow falls and swirls all around outside.
Jessica Wing	Yale Animal Resource Center	I have horses. I love going to the barn and feeding them in the morning. I turn them out, clean the stalls, and bust out the water buckets and trough. After I do all this (and sometimes plug in the tank de-icer for the outside water if it is really cold), I love to go home and have a coffee/tea/hot chocolate (depending on my mood). And if it was a particularly taxing morning, sometimes I will treat myself to a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, with a side of hash browns, knowing that my horses are safe, fed, and happy playing in the cold.
Laura Kirk	Drama School	I love the crunch of fresh snow underfoot and the stillness after a snowstorm.
Jennifer Bonito	Emergency Medicine	The opportunity to wear winter attire (fun socks, hats, gloves, sweaters and coats) and snuggle under a fuzzy warm blanket.
Concetta Fusco	Law School	I enjoy making snow angels in soft fluffy snow and then going inside to warm up with hot chocolate!
Louisa DeLand	Information Technology Services, Help Desk	Roaring fires and cuddling up with a warm book or my favorite podcast
Alexei Nelayev	Yale School of Public Health	Nothing beats skiing on icy New England slopes!
Leah Phinney	Graduate Admissions	Winter in New England reminds us that, as in life, dark and cold days will not last forever. No matter how long the winter seems, spring will come again. This pattern repeats over and over, throughout the seasons and throughout our lives, giving us hope and faith in a brighter tomorrow.
Alisa Scherban	Wellness	I love sitting by the fire and I love watching the snow fall (when I don’t have to go anywhere).
Lourdes Rojas	Yale Peabody Museum	I love hiking on local trails during the winter b/c you can see all the animal prints, and with the leaves down, you get views you wouldn’t get otherwise.
Dimitri Duvilaire	Neurology	The beautiful Drops of Water in the trees as the snow is melting and turning into icicles. The beauty of these icicles when the light hits them and makes them look like crystals hanging from a tree. The cries of joy of the children as they sled down a mountain in the clear white snow!!!
Lisa Brennan	Jackson Institute for Global Affairs	The perfect color of blue when the skies are clear—I can almost taste it—so cold and refreshing! And the beautiful pink and orange sunsets over Benjamin Franklin College.
Rosanna Gonsiewski	Law School	Although the winter season is not my favorite season, New England has one of the best winters. My favorite part is freshly fallen snow before anyone has walked on it, driven over it, plowed it, disturbed it. The feelings of calmness and peacefulness come over me as the only sounds you may hear are a few birds chirping or perhaps some squirrels playing tag with each other. It’s like there is no one else in the world at that moment, and I take a few deep breaths and enjoy the silence.
Jane Miller	Yale University Art Gallery	The color transforms Only in winter that glow A persimmon red
Rachel Sperling	Center for Science and Social Science Information Library	I love the way snow completely transforms the landscape, especially the woods and mountains. I hike in the winter and being above treeline after a snowfall is like being in another world.
Patience Benassi	Neuroscience	I love the way a blanket of snow quiets the earth when you walk outside in the evening snow. The snow on the trees in the woods is a beautiful sight. With just the right level of moisture in only an inch or two of snow, there is a particular sound of squeaking of the snow under my feet that is quite unique.
Laura Bozzi	School of Public Health	Fresh tracks! (by ski or by foot)
Denise Lowell	Yale Medicine, Coding and Billing	Watching the first snowfall, sitting by a warm fire, building a snowman, snowmobiling with family and friends.
Lindsey Fraczkiewicz	Yale Center for Clinical Investigation	Skiing in Vermont!
Pawel Sawicki	Library Shelving Facility	There are two things I love about the winter season: the quiet just after snowstorms and the cold crisp air on sunny mornings.
Dana Berkowitz	Library	Snow days!!
Linda Silva	Account Services	The warmth of a fireplace as I watch the first snowfall of the season.
Amy Keach	Information Technology Services, Enterprise Applications	I love snuggling up under a blanket, with a hot cup of coffee, my knitting, and my family on a Saturday morning as we watch English soccer games. That, and how the trees look in the early morning light on my way to work when they’re covered with snow or ice after a storm.
Meg Blake	Chemistry	I love going on walks in New Haven when it snows. The entire city has a quiet that falls upon it, and it is such an adventure!
Kathy Trputec	Yale Summer Session	Sledding with my kids!
Heather A. Riggio	Pediatric Residency & Fellowship, Office of Education	I love the crispness of the cold weather. I love how quiet it becomes any time it snows. Even in the middle of downtown New Haven, the snow blankets the noise. I love wearing my tall boots and all the deep colors that come along with the winter season. I love the shorter days and longer nights and there is nothing more beautiful than the night sky on a cold winter night…
Colleen Ford	Internal Medicine, Section of Digestive Diseases	I love throw blankets, the couch, and a roaring fire when it’s cold, especially snowing. We have a sledding hill in our backyard so when a good storm comes in, family comes over. Everyone sleds for as long as they can, and then heads inside for warmth by the fire. It creates the best memories.
Barbara Corcoran	Conference and Events	I used to hate winter—the cold, dealing with the snow, etc., but then a very bright friend reminded me of what came after winter —SPRING! The most beautiful time of the year (next to Fall). Like all things worth experiencing, you must work through the tough times (Winter), to get to the reward (Spring).
Marisa Berti	Academic Affairs and Student Life	I love being part of the SOM Club Hockey team as it allows me to connect with staff and students outside of the classroom. It’s great to all come together with the common goal of loving the game of ice hockey.
Alexandra Oshinskie	School of Nursing, Office of Advancement	The cold winter air offers a reprieve from the constant swirl of dust, pollen and “seasonal” allergies that mark every other season in Connecticut. Winter is for deep breaths on the front porch, and the satisfaction of a plume of hot breath against the below-freezing temperatures. The cold cleans and makes for some good breathing weather.
Marleen Cullen	Anthropology	I love the snow! Especially when it snows enough to stop the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Everything seems peaceful, quiet and serene, if only for the day.