Snow Day

Dear Friends,

I talked to Ryan and Emily on Tuesday night and both were as giddy and excited as I have seen in a while. Why the sudden elation? SNOW DAY! Calvin College cancelled classes for Wednesday, the first cancellation since the famous 1976 ice storm. Wednesday provided white out conditions and two feet of snow – and no classes!

The irony of the situation is that I was there for the notorious ice storm in 1976. I wasn’t aware that classes were cancelled so I backed the old Plymouth on the street and wondered, “where is the traffic?” You would think the tree limbs in the road would be a clue. I drove around them. The car kept sliding so I drove in the center and glided to a stop two blocks from home. Slowly, the old Plymouth slid to the right and bumped into the curb. That was enough for me! I got out and walked home, skated really, through trees coated with ice, prisms of light, and only three falls. No school!

Snow and ice were not the issues in my days as principal and transportation director at Hanford Christian in the Big Valley; FOG was the problem. It wasn’t fun for me. I started getting calls by 5:00 a.m. from “spotters” that lived along various bus routes. By 6:00, before the buses left, I had to make a call. Postpone or not? Families tuned to Public Television and watched the strip on the screen that announced cancellations. Before 9:00, I had to decide whether or not to cancel the buses for the day. I think we averaged about two “fog days” per year. What excitement!

In my many years at Contra Costa Christian Schools, I’ve never called a snow day, an ice day, or a fog day. Thankfully, I’ve never called a “flood day” or “earthquake day.” We should be grateful for the wonderful weather and conditions that we take for granted here in the East Bay. But seriously, wouldn’t it be fun to have a snow day?