Here in central WV, we’re getting probably our fifth winter storm of the season! Already! As such, there is no shortage of people (including Yours Truly) bitching about the weather! Nonetheless, there are some good parts of having a snow day (which we’re just about certainly going to be having tomorrow).
For one thing, I have the perfect excuse for not running the errands that I’d be looking for a way out of on a clear, sunny day. Next, soup! Yep, canned, home-made (great time to clean out those bags of frozen veggies that don’t have enough to serve as a full side dish), frozen; the source doesn’t matter. I get to eat soup, right? Other cold-weather fare; chili, hot chocolate, hot buttered rum. . .
Also, if word comes down before bed time (as I suspect it will) that there will be no school tomorrow, I can shut off the alarm clock and sleep as late as I want. I’ll probably still get up at the usual 5AM, but the idea is I don’t have to! Last, I have favorite storm clothes, and knowing this storm was coming, I was sure to get to the Laundromat this morning (my washer’s broken and awaiting a new part) so my favorite storm clothes are clean: baggy, soft, nappy sweat pant; baggy, heavy-weight sweat shirt; fuzzy cozy socks. I probably won’t put my shoes on all day, unless I need to go over to the apartment building to deal with a crisis.
I just love snow. It’s beautiful, and makes everything quiet. This might sound weird, but snow has a certain smell. My apartment is so overheated, I turn off most of the radiators and crack a couple windows regularly. This morning, while having breakfast on the couch and watching the snow fall, the wind was just right and that smell from the fresh snow came inside. My living room smelled like fresh snow. It was wonderful.
I love being the first to plant new footprints in fresh snow.
If an air freshener company figured out how to make a scent called “fresh snowfall” I would buy it.
I honestly can’t remember having a “snow day” growing up in Saskatchewan (Canada). I think I remember having a couple of “really, really, really cold days”, in which case the best part was not going to school.
I don’t recall having a “snow day” in Ontario either, actually.
Wow, really? Was it because there was no snow (I always thought those areas had lots of it) or because snow was so common that ‘life as usual’ didn’t stop for it?
I have seen schools closed once (in western Maryland) for record-low temperatures. And once, when schools had been closed for a week for a blizzard, a couple days after the snow stopped, we got a sudden warm spell, and then schools were closed for a day for flooding!
My favorite thing about a snow day would be… having one. Even when we had an unaccountably hellish blizzard last year, my work didn’t cancel work. They don’t care. They’d only cancel work if the heat went out in the building (we can still stuff envelopes or have team meetings if the power goes out). And even then, they’d keep us working until it was near freezing indoors.
We had an ice day, which is infinitely better than a snow day. Snow days are fun, because you can go out and play in it, but ice days are awesome because there is no reason to change out of your pajamas and even walking down to get the mail is a bit much. The dog didn’t even want to venture more than a few feet out the front door.
I stayed home with the kids all day today. They watched movies, colored, played with their toys. I mess around on the computer and knitted. We baked cookies. I spent maybe about an hour today without a blanket draped on my lap. Nice.
Growing up, snow days were pretty rare in urban parts of Minnesota. We always used them as an excuse to make chocolate chip cookies and watch trashy TV.
As an adult, they are even more rare because I can now work from home. Waah. Still, we had a blizzard a couple of Saturdays before Christmas this year and I took full advantage. I schlumpped around in my sweats, eating cookies, reading and ignoring my usual Saturday chores. It was an excellent day.
Aside from the obvious (not having to go to school or work), I’d say it gives me a rare chance to watch The Price is Right. I’ve only had four snow days/extreme cold days in my life–two for a blizzard in 5th grade, and two for a cold snap with -20 Fahrenheit temperatures in 11th grade. I did have a few hurricane days when I lived in Florida, though.
We had one just yesterday and I think the best part was watching my Mig turn into a little boy. I was sick but he played outside with our daughter for hours in the snow. He asked for snow cream and they built snowmen and when they got cold we snuggled on the couch and watched kid movies. It’s very rare for him to take a day off, and when he does it’s always because we have to do something or go somewhere. A relaxing day at home for all three of us is a sweet time.
Oh, believe me, I hear you! Because I live in one of the apartment buildings I manage, I have to actually leave town to get a (nearly guaranteed) day off! I have signs posted around about not disturbing me outside of business hours except in case of extreme emergency, but people think if I’m here (and they can tell, because my car’s in the driveway), I’m on duty! They will knock on the door or ring my phone at 7AM (happened this morning when a tenant wanted to know if there was a 2-hour school delay; there wasn’t), or at 11:30 at night (complaining about the guy in apt. 6 being too noisy).
OK, hot buttered rum is something I heard of for years, but just this winter, which started off harsh and doesn’t seem to be improving, have I felt like tracking down a recipe. The problem I had at first seemed to be that every recipe I found was for 8-10 servings or more. Hey, I like a couple of drinks in the evening, but that’s a bit much! This is what I’ve distilled (heh) from the various recipes I’ve found, and it works beautifully for me:
1TBSP butter
1TBSP brown sugar
2oz spiced rum
2oz boiling water
Put butter and sugar in a coffee mug; microwave until the butter is melted and the sugar is starting to incorporate (you’re almost making a caramel here); add boiling water, then add spiced rum. Stir. Sip while watching your favorite TV show or soaking in the tub. (OK, I totally made up that part about watching TV and soaking in the tub, but hey, it’s what I like to do at night!)
If you don’t have spiced rum, you can use regular rum, and spice your butter/brown sugar mixture with cinnamon, nutmeg, whatever you like.
It is beautiful, isn’t it? Earlier today, there was such a mix of varieties of snowflakes falling! There were the big, fat, fluffy kind that look so pretty when you watch outside your window, but then if you looked kind of in-between them, you could see those tiny, serious-type flakes that really mean business! There was a tiny bit of freezing drizzle, too, which creates such a beautiful glaze over the snow!
The schools have already called, canceling for tomorrow.
It is very pretty. You watch it fall and feel so safe inside. School was cancelled for tomorrow a few hours ago. My daughter the diplomat told me upon hearing the news, “Mommy I love school but I love being at home with you just as much!”
I have no favorite part of snow days because snow storms suck. I’m really not looking forward to the 12"+ they’ve predicted for tomorrow, since it’ll be me out there 2-3 hours clearing the goddamn snow out of the driveway at least once. And then…then shoveling off the roof. After being sore and tired, I’ll spend the rest of the day/night freezing, because it’s hard to shake a chill after that. Oh, and if we’re extra lucky, the power will go out, since it enjoys doing that during big storms
