Wusses
We of the Upper Midwest are tough. Hardy. Doughty. We laugh at snow and bitter cold. We laugh at heat and humidity. We wave our hands dismissively at storms and such.
Apparently, this is an act.
Over the last 24 hours, we've gotten about 4" of snow. Big whoop. All this means is that I'll need to shovel in a bit so Brown Santa can reach the door without chance of slippage on the walk. Don't want him to drop those boxes.
The temperature as I scooted Colin out for the bus this morning was a relatively balmy 9 degrees F. (Hey, that's 15 degrees higher than it was running the first half of the week.) Charles had headed off to school a couple of hours earlier and hadn't called with any dire concerns.
20 minutes past bus time, Colin still hasn't been picked up. I am puzzled. And disgruntled. Resigned, I call the school, figuring the bus has been missed, which makes no sense as he was out on time and I had been watching. I leave a message on the school's voice mail that I was bringing him in after I got the rest of us ready, and hopped in the shower.
You know, of course, what happened next. You are all so wise and would have instantly turned on the radio or the TV or checked the website or called the neighbor. Instead, the nice school secretary called me and told me of the *smack* 2 hour delay *slap*.
Sigh.
It just really never occurred to me.
This is Wisconsin. Not Portland.
Apparently, this is an act.
Over the last 24 hours, we've gotten about 4" of snow. Big whoop. All this means is that I'll need to shovel in a bit so Brown Santa can reach the door without chance of slippage on the walk. Don't want him to drop those boxes.
The temperature as I scooted Colin out for the bus this morning was a relatively balmy 9 degrees F. (Hey, that's 15 degrees higher than it was running the first half of the week.) Charles had headed off to school a couple of hours earlier and hadn't called with any dire concerns.
20 minutes past bus time, Colin still hasn't been picked up. I am puzzled. And disgruntled. Resigned, I call the school, figuring the bus has been missed, which makes no sense as he was out on time and I had been watching. I leave a message on the school's voice mail that I was bringing him in after I got the rest of us ready, and hopped in the shower.
You know, of course, what happened next. You are all so wise and would have instantly turned on the radio or the TV or checked the website or called the neighbor. Instead, the nice school secretary called me and told me of the *smack* 2 hour delay *slap*.
Sigh.
It just really never occurred to me.
This is Wisconsin. Not Portland.
Labels: The Life Rural
posted by Diana at 10:40 AM
10 Comments:
My special administrator used to call at 5:30 to inform me, and others, of any special schedules that morning. I guess we teachers were really special after all. Only problem was that after "the call" I was so pumped about snow that sleep was impossible.
The Ole RFer
Oy, you poor things! You poor snowy things! Snow! SNOW! OY! POOR YOU ALL! W the snow! And the cold! And the snow, cannot mention and disparage snow enough! SNOW! Argh, my heart and thermal setpoint ache for you. POOR SNOWED THINGIES!
You got two more inches than we did. Lake Effect Snow, my ass! We we delayed this morning, but school started on time. Bad mom! Teri's kids were late for school, again! (There oughta be a law against school starting before 8am!)
Yes, not Portland for sure! If it were Portland the schools would be closed and there would be 24 hr. local news coverage, with all the newspeople and graphics about "STORM WATCH" and talking about the "weather sattelite 2000 doppler to the X-treme" weather reports.
Four inches? And they delayed opening the school? C'mon. That is just silly.
I think one of my favorite things is when people will call my work and ask me if it is snowing. And my answer is either, "Um, hello, it is September so no" or "No, it's too cold to snow" and then they freak out because they can't imagine living somewhere where it is too cold to snow.
They delayed school for 4 inches? Wow. That is not common in the Midwest, unless you live in a pretty rural area. Living in Minnesota and going to school, I would have thought there would have been a lot more snow days than there were. In fact, my school only shut down three times because of the weather, and all of those days were days it didn't snow. We got closed for cold. And the governor had to declare two of those days before the school would delay or shut down.
If I was a kid I'd be so bummed out by a snow delay--I'd feel cheated out of a snow day.
Just got off the phone with a friend in Chicago. They have eight inches. Don't know if school was called off or not, but the storm did cause a tragic and freakish accident at Midway Airport. Apparently, a plane slid off the runway and into an intersection, crushing a car and killing one person.
Terrible.
Dad- Yeah, they call Charles about 5 AM on the rare occasion. As an administrator, he still has to go in, though.
Johnny- No, no, no! Snow is lovely compared to 38 degrees and gray drizzle for months on end. I only get sick of it around the end of February. I imagine some year in early March, we will show up on your doorstep in search of warm sun.
Teri- Whoops! I remember not starting grade school until 9 AM. High school, of course, was an evil 7:30.
Stacy- AAAAHH! I forgot all about that! It's been so long since I watched network weatherish news. Those silly talking heads hyping it all up. I just get it off the NOAA site and have done with it. Remember when they had to close school that one day when it got really cold because someone ran the hoses full blast down the hill at Clackamas high? That's where they had all the district buses, in the little valley parking lot area, and it iced the busses in? I would still love to thank those pranksters.
Dana- No kidding! Bah! We headed off to the grocery store as soon as Colin was on the bus. "Too cold to snow" DOES make you feel sorry for yourself, doesn't it?
Beth- Yeah. Very rural. Muchos cows. Actually, the area we live in, a bit out from the village, is up a fairly good hill, but what the hell are snow plows and salt trucks for, I ask you? There was a hay wagon ahead of us on the drive back from the store. OK, it was having a wee bit of trouble navigating the road, but a bus is certainly more stable than a hay wagon. (Yes, I am kidding. I don't want any risk to kids on a bus. Please don't misinterpret.)
Rozanne- I heard about that in the car on the way to the store. The "person killed" was a small child in one of the two cars hit when the plane slid off the runway and into the road, per NPR. Sobered me up and slowed me down even more. I can't imagine. Now I need to go hug Sara some more.
Every year I have to retrain myself to turn the tv/radio on in the morning if there's been snow during the night. Well, the snow plow woke me up twice last night, did I turn on the tv or radio? Nope. Luckily, there was school; maybe the plows were just practicing.
Listmaker- Huh. Guess YOUR plows were keeping up with things. Of course, had we been the kid who had to go to school, you know we'd have that radio on.
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