Flush ice cubes down the toilet (as many as possible)
Throw carrots out the window (preferably in the direction of the school)
Place spoon under the mattress (the bigger, the better)
Place a quarter under your pillow (heads up)
Dance around a snowman candle (for as long and as wildly as possible)
Wear your pajamas inside-out (no further explanation needed)
Sleep backwards (head where your feet normally go)
These were the instructions as written (by a student) on the white board in my clasroom last Friday. We had all heard the forecasts (“wintry mix” to start at 9 p.m. on Friday night, accumulation of up to twelve inches by Saturday night), but in these parts, one simply doesn’t know what to believe. As soon as you head to the store to buy your extra gallon of milk, the sky clears. But fail to fill the tank with gas, and you’re likely to get an ice storm that knocks out the power for three to five days and you’re making oatmeal in the fireplace.
I knew the one about wearing pajamas inside-out. The children and I tried it once last year, to no avail. But can you blame us for trying? We all want snow– at least once– every winter, and a snow day? Oh My, Yes.
So when on Friday night the flakes started to fall, we could barely contain our excitement. And when, after our two outings that evening, the car and the roads were coated with a fine, white film, we were More Than Hopeful. And when Saturday dawned, grey of sky and white of ground with a fine mist of snow still steadily falling, we were Overjoyed. Winter, at last.
But let’s be frank: if those “steps” (incantations?) above don’t make it abundantly obvious, what the kids are after is a Snow Day, a day when, by the will of the Divine and the warnings of forecasters, by the wisdom of the governor and the benevolence of a headmaster, School Is Cancelled. And this was why Friday’s snowfall seemed just the littlest bit off, just a wee bit cruel. Snow. On a Friday. What’s the good in that??
Make no mistake: my children enjoyed it. They were out once, twice, three times on Saturday, at least twice on Sunday. The sleds made countless trips down the hill, the clothes made countless cycles through the dryer, the kettle sang countless songs over cocoa. We had more snow on Saturday and sunshine on Sunday, and all the world glittered in its transformation.
But snow falls like this so rarely in North Carolina. This latest storm rivals only one other in my memory: the blizzard of 2000, when we gained 24 inches overnight and were absolutely housebound for a week. Okay, yes, we could get out of the house, but not out of the driveway. We only have something like three snowplows for the tri-city area (or so the rumor goes); we are Absolutely Unprepared for this kind of weather– because we so rarely need to be.
So this makes the case for the snow day, doesn’t it? Our chances of a snow day are Oh, So Slim because those are the same chances for a snow fall at all. So doesn’t it seem like it’s maybe okay– just once in a while– to actually get a snow day?
And then, on Sunday afternoon, the news: school closed on Monday. Oh bliss! Oh joy! The snowplows just couldn’t make it to everyone; the salt isn’t nearly enough; the overnight freeze would make travel Absolutely Unsafe.
And so today it was more sledding and more relaxing. I spent much of the day (truth be told) working on school work at my kitchen table, but all the while aware of the sun glinting off the snow, of the joyous cries of my children and the noisy scrape of their sleds as they went shooting down the hill.
Yes, it was a good work day, and now I am armed and ready. My students and I are on the cusp of our study of the Greeks. Socrates awaits us, as does Oedipus Rex! Time escapes us, we have too much to lose. I, for one, am poised to retake my classroom even as the piles of white snow disappear into the asphalt and the creeks outside run with water.
Which explains my disappointment when, tonight at about 8:30, we learned that our school, like all the other schools in the area, is once again cancelled for tomorrow. We’re supposed to get some icy rain overnight and into the morning, and enough ice remains on enough of the roads as it is that we just can’t risk sending everyone to school. What a disappointment.
Maybe tomorrow, after the snow melts (?), I’ll ask the kids to get the carrots off the lawn. Or maybe we’ll wait until Wednesday.
