I heard a rumor

I woke up this morning at 6:10 in an anti-histamine fog (I took off-brand Nyquil before bed). My phone was ringing. Since Dad's in Sarajevo, I figured he was calling me at what was a convenient time for him. I let it ring. By the time I got up to start the shower, it was ringing again, and it was Mom calling from home.

"Hey, go look outside your window! It's like a blizzard over here!" she said.

"Oh yeah," I said. I remembered that Michael in sixth hour yesterday asked me: "Is school going to be canceled because of the weather tomorrow? I heard a rumor that it was going to snow." I had scoffed at that idea, thinking 1) it is unlikely that BR will see snow and 2)EBR school system won't let us get off school for shit.

I looked outside and it looked a bit icy. It was dark and there were definitely some swirlies in the car headlights on my street.

"You sound terrible," said Mom.

"I just woke up," I croaked.

"Are you sick?"

"Yeah, it's just a throat thing. I shouldn't have told you."

"Okay, go pour some hot hot water on your throat. It'll feel better--,"

"Stop it Mom."

"Okay, well, have a good day."

I opened the bedroom door, told a sleeping Leif "I think it's snowing outside," and hopped in the shower. I felt like crap and I was dizzy and tired so I wasn't that excited. Leif came into the bathroom and confirmed snow. I asked him if he was going back to sleep and he said he wanted to, but he couldn't now.

By the time I got out of the shower and got dressed, Leif was fully suited up and outside. When I sat down to eat breakfast, he was coming in with a wet knit hat, a red face, and a big grin.

He was kind enough to start my car and brush up my windshield while I brushed my teeth. It was light out by the time I got to the front porch with my bookbag, lunch, and purse, and the whole yard was white. Big fat biscuity flakes were falling. I got Leif to take a picture of me in the yard and then I took one of him and got in the car. I had the wrong shoes for snow. Too bad my snow boots were in Lafayette.

I drove to school and cranked up Boards of Canada. It didn't feel like I was in BR at all. Everything was covered in a charming, fluffy layer. Even the gas stations looked like postcards.

When I got to school, I could see that kids were crowding under the overhang outside. There was a good inch or two of slush in the parking lot. I sloshed up to the main building with all my bags and an umbrella. One of my kids from two years ago was running into the parking lot skimming snow off cars yelling "This will make a good one! Oh, Hey, Ms. W__."

Then I saw the snow scene: all of the kids were playing in front of the drama building by the parking lot. None of them were dressed well enough--they were all wet in hoodies, sneakers, and fake designer boots. Some came up to me and yelled "Ms. W__" like they had been waiting for me, but then they had nothing to say after that. Everyone was just plain overjoyed and couldn't contain themselves. They were all playing so nicely together. Then J. from fourth hour ran up to me and told me I should have turned around because school is canceled. I saw one of the math teachers and she said the same thing. I half-wished I was wearing my ski gear so I could watch the kids play some more, but my feet were cold and wet, so I called Leif, let him hear the kids yelling in the background, hopped back in the car, and drove home.

Leif had gotten out my long underwear for me and wanted to go on a mini-walk to see what the lake looked like. So we did. Some metalhead-looking teenagers were playing in the front yard in our neighborhood. One of them yelled "How y'all doin'?" to us like somebody's cheery grandpa.

It's funny that people in the north see snow as a huge pain in the ass. Everyone down here is acting like they're in love with each other just because the air happens to be cold enough to freeze our usual rain. It's oddly transformative out there.