No Snow in the Forecast

The rain is over, and the sun is shining!  It's hard to believe Christmas is only a few days away.  According to the weather predicters, there is no snow in the forecast.  Isn't it odd to feel conflicted about snow? 

When I was working and had to drive 40 minutes to work, snow was a big deal.  It meant I had to leave earlier (and I already left quite early), drive slower, and be more aware of the other traffic.  There were places in my trip that presented hazards in bad weather that one could fly through if the day was fine.  If the snow or ice was really bad, I'd eagerly watch the school closings to see if my school was closed (it often was when local schools weren't because of the hilly terrain where I taught).  If I saw the magic word, "Closed", scroll across the bottom of the TV, I'd do a little happy dance, get back into bed, and revel in the knowlege that I had an unexpected free day.

In some ways, it was ironic that I would be so gleeful because snow days wreaked havoc with lesson plans and inner schedules.  There were times when having plans thrown off even one day (especially around holidays) was awkward and getting things back on track took a lot of extra planning.  However, it was the "inner schedule" I mentioned that was the real killer.

That unexpected free day through off one's sense of timing.  Getting back into the groove was harder in some ways than getting back after a vacation.  The unplanned nature of free time is hard to adapt to.  First of all, one can spend half a day dithering about what should be or could be done.  I would usually decide to do nothing that had anything to do with work and spend my time doing things I rarely had time to do.  Then when it was time to go to bed, I would feel guilty and out of sorts because I hadn't gotten ahead in my work.  The next day at school, I'd race around doing all the extra things that had to be done when a day was missed: writing out the day's schedule, changing the agenda, posting new "due dates", seeing everyone who had to be seen to re-schedule meetings or library time, figuring out how to get two days of classwork in one day, and all the other details that had to be taken care of.

Now imagine how the students felt when they came back.  They had had a delightful free day and were suddenly thrown back into a school day.  BUT, and it was a big "but", their school day would be slightly off kilter.  People would be a bit distracted, timing would be odd, and the entire day would seem like being inside one of those carnival mirrors that skew normal reflections.  And the worst thing about it?  They had no control over it. 

It was very much like having no control over the weather.  The next time you feel out of sorts about the snow or lack of it, think about it.  Since we have no control over it, isn't it better for us to relax and roll with it than get all upset about it?

Yes, it probably would be, but as humans (even as adult humans), it's hard to do that, isn't it? 

Gee, I'd love to have a bit of snow for the holidays!