Snow Day in Austin!

 

The forecast said 40 degrees and rain with a slight chance of freezing rain/sleet/snow. It was raining when we left the elementary school yesterday afternoon. By the time I dropped the last of the kids off and headed to the middle school I began to notice little white flakes mixed in with the rain.

The kids piled into the bus with great enthusiasm over those little white wet flakes. They opened most of the windows and I had to tell them more than once to keep their hands, heads, feet, knee caps, etc., inside. Their excitement was palpable. Some said it was the second time they had seen snow.

Snow is a rare occurrence in Austin, TX, so even a light flurry can cause quite a stir.

As we left the school, more and more white flakes joined the rain drops. I picked up the microphone and said, “In case you didn’t know, it’s snowing!”

A girl behind me said, “That’s not snow.”

Me: Yes, it is.

Girl: No, that’s not snow. It’s rain.

Me: It’s snow and rain.

Girl: No, it’s just rain.

Me: I grew up in New York and I’ve seen my share of snow. That is definitely snow!

Girl: It’s rain.

Me: Do you see those big white flakes?

Girl: Yes, but there’s more rain than flakes.

Me: So you admit that some of it is snow?

Girl: No, it’s rain.

I stopped when I realized I was arguing with a 12-year-old girl. What was I thinking? She might make a good lawyer some day.

 

I drove to the high school after the last of the middle school kids erupted from the doors of the bus into Winter Wonderland.  It was cold and half of the seats were wet so I closed all the windows. Middle school kids don’t mind or even notice that but high school kids do. High school kids rarely open windows.

As the high school students were boarding the bus a girl behind me commented on the snow. The boy next to her said, “That’s not snow.”

Here we go again, I thought.

I said to the boy, “Come up here and look at the hood of the bus.”

He said, “Oh, God!” and sat back down.

End of discussion.

I feel sorry for him if he ever gets into an argument with that 12-year-old girl.

 

I transported the high school students without incident and drove back to the bus barn. That’s when the snow started coming down in earnest.

I got into my van and set off on my 25-mile drive home. Traffic was heavy as expected but moving for the first half of the trip. Then I saw nothing but snow and brake lights and what appeared to be a large truck sitting diagonally across the road up ahead. I made a ten point turn, being careful not to put my tires in the ditch. I rerouted to find more of the same on the next road. People were crazy and stupid out there on the road, probably because they have little or no experience driving in snow.

When I finally did pull into my snowy driveway, two hours had passed. I was grateful to have gotten home safely.

Usually, in a bad weather situation, I’ll get a recorded message in the wee hours of the morning of the next school day that classes have been delayed two hours. Not this time. That evening I got the call that schools would be closed Friday.

SNOW DAY!!!!!