Extreme Cold Weather

The cold weather has prevented me from running outside for nearly a week.
The school kids got a day off on Tuesday because of the extreme cold. The temperature was -17 Fahrenheit on Tuesday morning, that's -27 Celcius, and the wind chill was -30 Fahrenheit.
Wednesday morning, the air had warmed up to -9 degrees. That's -23 Celcius. Every school district in the county was closed except one other town and us.
Our town doesn't have school buses. Instead, everyone is close enough to walk or they get dropped off by their parents. The superintendent said he doesn't close school for cold weather unless the wind chill is at -18 degrees. Did he want to walk to school at -17 degrees?

These are snow rollers -- apparently a rare snow phenomenon. 

I thought it was still too cold for kids to walk to school. I decided to prove my point by walking to the coffee shop, which is actually closer than the school.
I set off in my warm boots, hat, gloves, scarf and winter coat.
 After nearly a mile, my cheeks were so cold, and my thighs in my corduroy pants were burning hot, in a way that thing probably feel right before frostbite. (Earl joked that maybe my corduroys rubbing together caused a spark, and I forgave him for the fat joke.)
I walked into the Starbucks just in time to keep from freezing.
I could see one of the barristas making comments about people being crazy to walk through the cold weather for coffee. I explained that I was trying to prove a point that the superintendent was wrong to have school that morning.
My son is lucky because he can drive to school. But there are plenty of kids in the city who can't get a ride; their parents leave for work before the kids go to school.
Standing at the Starbucks thawing, I called Earl and asked him to pick me up. He was just out of the shower and came to get me. Then we drove up toward the school to see if anyone needed a ride.
We found Tucker's friend Sam walking toward the school. He hopped in the backseat and we delivered him at school.

When the snow is just wet enough and in an
open place, the wind catches it and causes
it to roll up like a rug. Isn't this cool?

As we headed back home, we saw another boy walking. We stopped for him and ferried him up to the school too.
I also felt really bad for the crossing guards who stood outside to make sure the kids crossed the street safely.
This morning, the temperature had climbed all the way up to 3 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celcius), so I pulled on two pairs of running tights and an extra fleece.
I ran for about 34 minutes in the cold before returning home. It felt great to get back out there, but when I walked in the house, the sweat from my run, the cold outside and the warmth of the house all came together to hit me with a wave of nausea.
Still, I'm happy that I could run once again.
The weather forecast calls for some snow tonight. I'm still planning to get out there and run before the predicted storms next week.

Morning Blunder

This morning, I did something good to help other people.
I was driving home from my run at the gym when I saw two middle school kids walking in the dark with their backpacks on. The temperature on my car thermostat said 2 degrees.
I wondered if they didn't know school was canceled.

I'd woken up that morning around 5 and pulled up the local weather station with its list of closings. It listed every school in the county, including ours because the temperature hovered around -2 degrees Fahrenheit. That's -18 Celcius.
Two weeks ago when the temperature dipped down this low, they closed schools for two days.
I had driven past the kids already and was debating whether I should go back and say anything to them.
I turned the car around, stopped and, on my phone, pulled up the page for the local weather station again. I double checked that our school appeared on the "closings" list.
Then I drove back down the road, rolled down my window and told the kids, a brother and sister, that schools were closed. I asked if they wanted me to give them a ride back home since it was so cold.
We live in a small town, so that's not as dangerous as it might seem to big city people.
I also told them my son was a senior in high school.
They climbed into the back seat and told  me they were in 8th grade and 6th grade.
"I'm going back to bed," the boy, who was in 8th grade, told me.
I dropped them in front of their house, about half a mile back. Then drove home.
As I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that my neighbor was pulling out of her garage. She teaches at the Catholic schools, and I wondered where she was going. My list said the Catholic schools were closed too.
That's when I got worried.
According to the list, my college was closed, so I was in no hurry to take a shower. I had all day.
I came inside and searched for the closings page on the computer. The list showed only a few school delays and closures. Our school district and the college where I teach were not on the list.
"Oh, no," I told my husband. "I just told those kids there was no school. I don't even know their names."
At the same time, I needed to hurry to get ready for work.
I called my friend who lives down the block from the kids. Her 6th grade son knew them and called them. Then her son, a senior in high school, picked them up and gave them a ride to school.
She saved the day for me, and for them.
I figured out finally, that the page I was looking at on my phone was the page of closings from two weeks ago. It called up the same page I'd looked at without refreshing it.
I nearly caused a number of us to miss school.
It's fairly embarrassing and is a reminder to me not to meddle in other people's business, even if I'm trying to be a helper.

Moseying Along To School

I drove Tucker to school this morning since Spencer went early. On the way home, I stopped to get a gallon of milk, which put me driving through the neighborhoods smack dab in the middle of elementary school time.
Our high school and middle school start at 8 a.m. while the elementary kids begin at 8:10 a.m. That gives parents time to get kids to both schools if they need to.
In our little burg, we don't have any school buses. Everyone can walk or bike to school. For the high school age kids, of course, most of them drive so they can be cool, and sleep in later.
It struck me as I saw all the parents walking to school with their elementary-aged children: Walking to school with little kids takes a long time.

My kids didn't go to school when they were that age, and I always said the best thing about homeschooling was not having to get out of the door in the morning to get somewhere.

I don't think I saw one parent and child combo actually making progress. They were stopped waiting for the dog. Or the kid was in a yard looking at flowers. Another kid knelt down on the sidewalk tying his shoe. Another kid was pointing up in a tree.
The parents stood on the sidewalk, their shoulders slumped in defeat, realizing that a beautiful spring day was no time to hurry along curious children.
The shortest distance between two points (home and school) is not a straight line for most little kids.
I guess the parents know that the walk to school will be more like a mosey, or a treasure hunt.
That's a hard lesson, but a good one, for those of us who are always in a hurry. We need to stop and smell the daffodils before they're gone.