A Snow Day!!!

           It is hard to say Calamity Day, when Columbus City Schools’ students and teachers alike look forward to having an unexpected holiday in the winter.  Calamity Days usually occur when the roads are bad due to snow, but we have had them over the years for power outages and frigid, below zero temperatures. For the safety of the children, the area schools are cancelled on these Calamity Days.

           This winter most of the bad days began or occurred on weekends or in the evenings when the salt crews had plenty of time to do their clearing.  The weather has been frigid and we have had quite a few inches of snow, but no Calamity Days, or Snow Days, as I prefer to call them.

           The teachers at my school have a little ritual, which helps us to not get too disappointed when the snow falls at the wrong time. On the day before the forecasted snowstorm, we do a lot of winking when we talk about tomorrow and tell ourselves and each other that we will probably have school. We assure the students that most likely we will have school on the morrow.  We take home what we might need if we will not be at school the next day, but we plan for the next day as though it will be “business as usual”.

           Yesterday, since the messy weather was forecasted for a Friday, we had to take home our weekend work, just in case.  Saying good-bye to the other teachers, as we leave the school, on such a day, is always, “See you tomorrow!”(wink, wink), but hoping we won’t.

           Then, there is my ritual of waking up in the middle of the night and checking the weather outside and getting up earlier than usual from sheer excitement and, finally, hearing the radio announcer say, “Columbus City Schools are cancelled today!”

           Today’s weather was slippery and icy with no real snow involved.  By 10 AM all of the problems with the roads had disappeared.  I cleaned; did laundry; went to the store; did taxes; paid bills; talked to a former teacher, who knew what a joy a day off from school can be; exercised for an hour; wrote some cards, read and cooked.  I also burned the bean soup I was making for dinner and the washing machine broke.  In spite of the totally mundane things I did, I felt thankful and joyful all day.  I really felt like playing in the snow all day long, even though that was impossible, because there was no snow.  After all, I have been a teacher or a student nearly all of my life and this was a “Snow Day”, a special treat in the lives of students and teachers, with no calamity at all.

                   This is what I would love to do on a Snow Day!