'snow problem at all!

About two weeks ago we had our first and, to date, only snowfall. By local standards it wasn’t a biggie, only about 2 -3 inches at best. By South African standards of course this was a climatological adventure of note. As far as I can remember I have only ever experienced snow up close twice in my life. One occasion being a freak snow fall in Johannesburg in 1982 at the tender age of about 8 years old. The second time was on a college geography tour to Lesotho to see the construction of the Katse Dam as part of the Highlands Water Project. While the first was seriously memorable (ask any kid who was in school in Johannesburg in 1982) the second was somewhat disappointing as there wasn’t very much snow at all. Hence my complete enthrallment with the icy precipitation two weeks ago.

The danger of course with snow is that if it gets cold enough over night, the snow freezes and becomes solid ice and not the easiest surface to drive on. So at the first sign of snow and or icy driving conditions, schools are closed in our, and surrounding, counties. Well, usually anyway, but not this time. It was deemed by the powers that be, that 2 – 3 inches of snow did not warrant a snow day, and that it was still safe to transport students to school. I just happen to have witnessed at least three cars skidding across various roads with shell-shocked drivers who might disagree with this sentiment though. Never-the-less, on the second day of snow we were all contacted at about 5:00 in the morning and told that school would be starting two hours later than normal, in order for the surface ice to melt and thereby make the roads safer to drive on. What nobody took the time to tell me was that apparently that doesn’t apply to teachers. Apparently teachers are supposed to report for duty only one hour later. Oh well!

I have included some photos below of the snowfall around our apartment complex and a few photos of my students having a snowball fight. It was only upon our sodden return to the class that I was informed that we are apparently not permitted to take the kids outside and let them play in the snow. Oops! Oh well! Again!