Snow Days

When I was a kid there was nothing better than a snow day. In my memory I can recall snow piled as high as the roof of my house and sledding down hills that seemed the size of a small mountain. It was great to wake up to KMA radio and hear Oakland or Council Bluffs schools included on the list of those that were out for the day. We were always early risers, so generally once we heard the announcements, we started planning for the day. There were a few times that a neighbor and I would go door to door in the late morning trying to earn a few bucks shoveling driveways. Mom would usually fix soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, which were a welcome break from school lunch. When the news would come on at six that night, we watched the weather hoping for more snow in the forecast and the potential for another day off.

The worst sound that you could hear after going to bed with the hope of a day off due to a few inches of that wonderful white stuff was the rumbling sound of the snowplow. We all knew that if the plows got out early in the morning, the chances of the longed for day off diminished significantly. The dad of one of my classmates in elementary school drove a plow and I remember that we would often shun him when we had to go to school and there was snow on the ground. Like it was his fault!

Thinking back to those days sledding down the hills on the Oakland golf course or the one on the side of Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs bring back a lot of memories. However, I no longer have that same warm place in my heart! Now I go to bed when there is snow in the air dreading the phone call that I know will come early in the morning. I also have to share the news with my wife who is sick and tired of kids being in the house all day rather than at school – where they are supposed to be! I am really tired of the color white because that is all I see outside. I am not opposed to going to school in June, in fact, just the opposite. I have maintained for years that I would rather have kids in school in June than in August. So it isn’t the whole “have to go to school in June” thing with me. No, I’m just tired of short weeks and the inability for our staff and students to get in the flow of school. And, did I tell you that I hate the color white!