Lessons from a Couple Snow Days

  We just had two snow days here in Middle Georgia. There is nothing quite like a snow day. It is like manna from heaven or finding $20 you didn't know you had, in reality neither of those things happen to me. I'd be happy to find a dollar I didn't know I had. I could then come up with six more cents and buy one of those wonderful vanilla cones from McDonald's. But all I'm really trying to say is that nothing is like a snow day. Nothing.

  When you live somewhere like Chicago, like my little sister, then a couple inches of snow is really an after thought, but if live in Macon, a couple of inches of snow can halt life as you know it and shut down everything and make you think the Apocalypse or the Rapture has come and you have been left behind without Kirk Cameron to show you the way. It is an Event. It is something people will be talking about till you die or move. When people think snow is coming there is this stillness in the air and everyone speaks in hushed tones so that any announcement can be heard. It is as if you are waiting for the words to come from God or Mark Richt himself. It is the one day you dig really deep into your faith in humanity and believe the weatherman. You better be paying attention or you may not have chance to hear it again or get to Kroger before all the milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and bread are sold out because getting snowed in for days at a time is very common here in Middle Georgia!

  Anyway, it happened and it was glorious. I was sitting at our dining room table grading papers and the hint of snow was in the air. I had our computer open, my cell phone nearby, and NPR was blaring and both of our fingers were crossed. (No, we are not sharing fingers these days.) I was updating the browser every several seconds just in case. Then all at once all of my devices brought me the good, no, great news. Monday, life was canceled and I was to stop grading and get back to sleeping and watching things on Netflix. I was to stay inside, not drive, don't go to work, and hope to survive the winter storm of 2011. And this I did with ease. Now, please understand it was very hard eating brownies, grilled cheese, two kinds of warm soup, and deciding what to watch on t.v. or exactly how much to read before I feel asleep again, but everyone has to do hard things in life, right? Right.

  But do not think this time was wasted. It was not. Nor was the next day when life had to be canceled again because all those 2.5 inches of snow froze and we had to take an Ice Day, which I found out was even better than a Snow Day. Mel and I spent some time watching some very good documentaries about prison, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Crips, the Bloods, and MS-13 (an El Salvadorian gang that has been labeled the most dangerous gang in the world by National Geographic).

  After watching these and a little 24, Mel and I have decided these things and there isn't much that could change our minds:

 1. We never want to move or even have to go to LA.

 2. Neither of us ever want to know enough about anything to be a prime candidate for torture.

 3. We never want to ever, ever have to go to prison. Ever!

 4. Neither of us wants to live or die by gang life. Neither of us were built for that kind of thing.

 5. Neither of us want to not have Jack Bauer on our side. If it happens that this is the case, both of us will quit whatever it is we are doing because there will not be much time left in life for either of us.

6. And lastly, cheese, brownies, chili, bacon, cantina chips, more cheese, milk, and more cheese are not suppose to be in your stomach all at once unless you are willing to drink a good party punch to wash it all down.

Hope you get a snow day,
   David