Snow Day

The front yard the day after the snow day.

Yesterday was our first snow day of the winter, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'd gone to bed late the night before, and I hadn't purchased all of the supplies for our scheduled 8th grade hot lunch. I was gearing up for an extremely stressful day--likely late for work, scrambling to get the lunch supplies, and cooking while my students were working. Instead I got to sleep in until 9:30 A.M., enjoyed a sumptious breakfast with J and Evelyn, and traded music with J for awhile before heading out for home around 1:30 in the afternoon. By that time, the roads were clear and dry and I was back in Dayton by 3:00 P.M. I was able to spend some extra time with Babs and the Feller.

The first hint of the snow day actually came Thursday. The weather forecast was ominous, with predictions of the 3 to 5 inches of snow starting late Thursday morning and lasting through Thursday night. All of us--students and teachers--were keyed up with anticipation, hoping for school to be let it out early. By eleven in the morning, we'd only received a little snow mist and I was ready to resign myself to another ordinary day. But by lunch, it was snowing hard. At the end of recess the first of my students' parents showed up to take them home early. From then on, the school closings, early departures of my students multiplied at the same frenetic pace as the snowflakes.

By the end of the school day, only three of my class of eleven were left, and the world was blanketed in swirling white. Thursday is normally one of the days I stay overnight in Columbus, and on this snowy day, I was glad not to have to make the trek back to Dayton. As it was, the roads were jammed with cars and mounds of dirty snow, and it took me an hour and a half to drive the twelve miles or so to my friend J's house.

By Friday morning, the three to five inches had arrived and school was cancelled for the day! While I'd take the tropical warmth of Saipan over Ohio's winter chill any day, when it comes to weather-related emergencies, a good snow day is much perferrable to a typhoon day. All you need is enough snow to stop the buses--no one's roof needs to get torn off, the power doesn't have to go out, and the clean-up is generally a lot easier. The winter is still young--perhaps we'll see some more snow days before it's over.

The photo above, and these below, were taken this morning, Sabbath, January 9, 2010, in the aftermath of Thursday and Friday's snowfall. It's beautiful!


The garden


A neighbor came and used his little snowplow to clear the drive.


A lovely winter's day.


Check out my latest entry in Faith Journeys, "Looking Like Jesus."