There are few things as frustrating in the world of education as a snow day that almost was.

In our little corner of the mid-South, we've come to understand that winter weather rarely means snow. This part of the country is simply a little too far south to get much in the way of wintry precipitation. Instead, if a storm moves through, we're more likely to get some ice, sleet, maybe hail, and otherwise just a miserably cold rain. I love the FoxTrot cartoon where the daughter is standing in the cold rain, stating, "Dante had it wrong. Hell is 33 degrees." That's our winter here.

So when a winter storm headed our way yesterday, everyone was in an uproar. The local city governments, determined to be better prepared than Oklahoma was a few months ago, sprayed down the roadways well in advance with antifreeze chemicals. They gathered sand to dump on the overpasses. And they checked the plows to see that they were geared up and ready to go. All day long we waited, watching a clear, cold day turn gray and ominous. Around dinnertime, a few scatter flakes appeared in the sky. I was still at school at that point, and the few students still around started squealing, "It's SNOWING!!!" I hopped in my car and headed home, gassing it up on the way to make sure it wasn't sitting around with an eighth of a tank (sad experience taught me gas lines can freeze when the tank is low). Others had the same idea, because there were lines at the gas stations and cars filling the grocery store parking lots. No one wants to get stuck at home for a couple days with no food. (Bill Engvall has a great riff on this: "Up to an inch of snow is headed to your area. We urge you to steal food, hoard gas. If you are an elderly American, you will not make it through this storm. An inch of snow, folks. Enough snow to make a footprint is headed to your area.") When I went to bed, I snuggled in with the satisfaction that I would get to sleep in and take a leisurely day to catch up on grading, lesson plans, and all those other fun things teachers get to do when they aren't at school (whoever thinks teachers only work from 7:30-3:30 is a complete moron).

So when I got up at 4 this morning to walk the dog, I was terribly disappointed to see, well, NOTHING. There was a little ice on my car, some on the steps and the porch railing, and the grass was crunchy in places, but the roads and sidewalks were simply wet. I was so dismayed I didn't feel like heading to the gym, so I sadly crawled back into bed. I was cruelly awakened by my husband's coworker calling at 5--I had high hopes it was the school calling to tell us they were canceling anyway. But no. I gave myself a few extra minutes on the way to work, thinking I might hit some slick patches on overpasses, but nothing at all.

The girls, of course, are despondent. They really needed a break, too. After coming back from Christmas break, they have to start second semester with enthusiam and energy (which doesn't happen). The season tends to be a bit depressing, and they've all got the flu and strep too. So everyone is weak and tired and sickly. To top it off, two of our students were in a bad car accident on Tuesday, and one is still in the hospital with pretty serious injuries. The girls are upset, concerned, and for many of them this is the first brush with their own mortality. So they could have used a mental health day.

And of all days, Thursday would have been perfect. It's the only day of the week I have all my classes (we teach a rotating block schedule), so no class would have gotten behind anyone else.

Oh well.