Well, That Didn't Last Long

This picture does not do justice as to the amount of snow we actually received.

Last weekend, I wrote about my "Top Five Fall Faves." This weekend, I am holed up in my house, braving a freakin' blizzard. (Slight exaggeration.) In fact, I am sitting at my kitchen counter, watching the fluffy flakes fall as I type. I feel like a real writer. This crazy snow day is the only reason I even have time to update my blog.

This could possibly be karma for bragging about Boise's four seasons last week because fall sure didn't last long.

It's the earliest snow day since I started teaching. I mean, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Sometimes, we get a mild snowstorm around the week of Thanksgiving . . . sometimes.

I teach in a district where we never got snow days at all, until a couple of years ago. But the weather seems to have gotten more severe in the last decade. Even I, not-a-climate-scientist, can see this.

On Thursday, as the first flakes started to fall, I told my fifth graders not to expect a snow day. At the time, a winter weather advisory had been issued, and only two inches of snow was predicted in the valley.

Pretty soon, the advisory turned into a winter storm warning, and one to two inches turned into two to four inches, then later, four to six. By noon, it was six to ten. One of my Facebook friends posted a pictured that measured seven-and-a-half inches in his yard.

Freezing rain was added to the forecast. The storm warning, originally set to expire at 11:00 a.m., was delayed to 2:00 by the time I finished writing this. (The snow has four more minutes to go.)

My husband, Dan, went to work in the morning. When he arrived home later that day, he told me the roads were bad but fun.

He also said that the barista at the coffee stand asked him, "Do you like the snow?"

And he exclaimed without hesitation, "Yeah!"

"About half of the customers today have liked it," she said.

By lunchtime, I called Dan at work because hadn't answered my instant messages.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Why is anyone even on the roads? Get off the roads! Oh my gosh, there is a sedan turning onto the street. It's not going to make it. Oh no, there's another one trying to turn left. Eeeee!"

Dan: "Stop watching the cars, Becky."

It was then decided (mostly by me) that Dan should come home from work early.

Dan: "Do you want me to bring you a coffee?"

Me (absentmindedly): "Sure!"

Dan: "You want me to come straight home, but you're okay if I drive through the coffee stand first?"

Long pause.

"I'll let you use your best judgment."

(That Snowy Mocha from Human Bean tasted really good.)

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