Snow Days
No school today: snow day.
I remember when snow days used to be so fun! They were pretty few and far between back in the day, when it rarely snowed much in Athens. but once in a while the alarm would go off and I could tell, just from the quality of the light filtering in the window and the hushed sound of passing cars that there was snow on the ground. And on really, really special days, when all the planets were in aligment, the radio would be inn the middle of announcing school closings as it came on, and I wouldn’t even have to get out of bed! I would just roll over and pull the covers higher and smile all the way back to sleep..jpg)
I do recall one winter, probably 75 or 76, when we had a pretty heavy snow. They were building the new bypass into Athens, and hundreds of yards of on and off-ramps were built and paved…and not yet opened. Barb Salyer and I dragged our sleds all the way to the highway and spent the day sledding those ramps like they were olympic luge runs. It was excellent! When I got home, I thought I had frostbite in my toes, but it was worth it! That was a snow-day to remember!
But snow days were almost as much fun when the kids were little. I was one of those fortunate mothers who didn’t hear the school closings and think "Crap! Now what am I going to do with the kids?" Mine was the house where people brought their kids. I was also one of those oddball parents who felt sad when summer ended and my best friends, my children, were away from home all day. So a snow day was a treat for both of us. Sleep in late, pancakes for breakfast, and now what, guys? Build a snow fort in the front yard? Grab the sleds and head to Sharon Woods park? Or just take the dogs for a romp? We had some wonderful times on snow days, because they were special: an unexpected gift of time together. 
I am also one of those weird people (are you sensing a theme here?) who likes to shovel snow. Well, up to a point, of course. I"m sure if I lived in Buffalo N.Y. I wouldn’t be nearly as fond of it. When it snows all day and I have to shovel repeatedly, I am a happy, if tired, person. One day last year we had a good hard snow, followed by rain. When I went out to shovel, the snow cracked lose in great jagged chunks in front of the shovel. As I stooped to lift one out of the way, it struck me how interesting it looked…
People were slowing down and stopping to take pictures of my yard by late afternoon, because it was filled with snow sculptures, entitled things like "The White Queen" and "Snowhenge" and "Nude Descending a Staircase". My daughter, no longer as entranced with snow as when she was younger, stood at the window eating cookies and watched my labors… and shook her head.
But come on! You’ve got to have fun on a snow day!
Tracy Meisky is a poet, writer, singer, songwriter and all-around boat rocker from way back. Feel free to look around, but if you break it, you bought it.
Storm of 78,Cabin fever, Sin city Ohio,†Just what the hell is wrong with these people?†I love a good storm. So I went up to campus to do a little spinning on the old foot operated pottery wheel. Another great way of meditating I thought, and hey I was right .It was so wonderful to have the City be so dead, like it was all my own. I really do like my solitude!!