Snow Day

One of the great things about living in the South is that even when we get less than an inch of snow, everything shuts down. I have a friend who lives in Michigan and recently took a stroll through the woods with 12+ inches of snow on the ground and got up the next morning and everyone went to work...a normal day. On Monday night, we got a pleasant surprise when a "Winter Storm Gripped the Region" (or so the newspaper said). In truth, we received about 1/2 inch of solid ice with a little snow on top for effect. It was beautiful and a bit unexpected to have winter weather BEFORE Christmas!! As predicted, schools were out and many businesses closed. Our favorite pizza parlor refused to open (how dare they!). I let my employees off for the day because I deeemed it "too unsafe for them to be traveling". Actually, I wanted to stay home and sled with Kiley. After about an hour of sledding we were done with that and the kids went to Grandma's so Mom could get ready for Christmas by purging all of the unused toys and sundries from the playroom without grabby hands interupting to say "But that's my favorite toy". It is always a real treat when you get two days in a row out of school around here. This time, the conditions were just right and the needle didn't go above freezing all day yesterday (this is how I am certain there is a God who loves me). So, we had another snow day today! We loaded up the kids to head to Burger King for breakfast before going about our daily activities. While we were there, a big 18-wheeler tried to drive up the slight incline of BK to make his delivery. He got stuck in the entrance of BK. Consequently, we were all stuck in the BK parking lot for about an hour. I wasn't panicked because I was enjoying the snow day. But there were those in the drive- through who were a little less than happy. We were actually inside the restaurant enjoying our breakfast and an intriguing thing happened. As soon as the unfortunate truck driver got stuck, it was like a vail of difference was lifted from the patrons of BK and instantly we were all in community. The chatter rose, we had our noses stuck to the window, people were asking what they could do to help, someone went outside to direct traffic from the drive-through. We suddenly had this unifying event unfolding. As we watched the poor truck driver exit his rig and walk over to the dysfunctional tires to pour salt under them, he tripped and fell flat on his back and drenched the backside of his jeans (this guy was having a really bad day, and, since it was about 9:00a,it was possible this was his first delivery for the day. I hope his day gets better). But I digress. We all suddenly has this commonality that was so poignant and tangible. It was a forced moment to stop and take in the only commodity available to us....each other. This is why I love snow days. God creates this divine chaos so we will all take inventory of ourselves and check the condition of each other. Everyone seems to be watching out for one another a little more. Whenever you leave you are admonished to "Be careful out there". Hmmm, shouldn't everyday be this way?