What does the Chicago Weather represent?

Buxbaum uses Chicago weather as a symbol several times in the novel, usually to symbolize Jessie's longing for home as well as her desolation and loneliness. When first meeting Ethan, Jessie notes that his eyes look "almost gray today: a Chicago winter sky" (56). Jessie sees something in Ethan's eyes that remind her of home, but also feel cold and distant, noting both their implicit connection due to their anonymous online relationship and Ethan's pain at his brother's passing. Jessie also notices that the trees in Chicago are "naked and unprotected in the cold" (259), but later comforts herself knowing that "they're naked in the same way they were last fall and the one before that" (269). In the same way, Jessie feels alone, but knows that she too will make it through the difficulty as she has done before.