surprise vacation

Yesterday was a first: my school had a snow day.

Allow me to explain. I work at a boarding school, and since most of the kids live here, we don't cancel classes for weather. Sometimes the day students miss, but that's about it.

A few weeks ago, we cancelled the first three classes because we got almost two feet of snow overnight and the kids would have gotten lost on the paths on their way to classes. That was a huge deal - totally unheard of.

And then Monday. Reports were coming in of a snow storm on Tuesday and an ice storm today. The catch was that the students were scheduled to leave Wednesday afternoon for "Winter Weekend," a sort of mid-semester break to stave off the winter blues. Typically, they go home until Sunday, and we all rejoice in our brief freedom. Wednesday afternoon, when their parents were supposed to be picking them up, or they were supposed to be catching flights, and when they were generally supposed to be out traveling around in the elements, was supposed to be when we got 1/2 inch of ice on the roads. Frankly, no one liked the idea of so many of our kids and their families at the mercy of such dangerous conditions.

So the headmaster and administration made an unorthodox decision: they cancelled classes Tuesday and Wednesday and told the kids they were free to go on Monday afternoon. The faculty found out in a meeting at 12:15, and then watched as it was announced to the kids at 12:30. If a random passerby had wandered in and seen their reaction to the announcement, you would have thought they were all being granted diplomas early, had each gotten into a Ivy League school, and were getting brand new BMWs and trips to Europe, all at once. I think someone videotaped the screaming, which is good, because I think my hearing kicked out after two minutes of it.

As luck would have it, J's classes were cancelled, also. It's been a lovely few days of cooking, pajamas, quilting, and generally lounging (fine - some work as well, but that's not the cool part). The only bad thing is that in all likelihood, these type of events will never again coincide. Better to live it up now!