Blizzard

It is blizzarding here. The wind is battering against our little house, whistling and moaning and rattling all the windows. It is amazing how loud it is. When everyone got home from school, there was a small snow drift in the living room because the front door doesn't fit quite right. Dwight soon made some adjustments and now only a little bit of snow gets through, forming a tiny hill just inside the door. After the blizzard quits, he plans to get some materials and see if he can make the door fit better.

The schools had a two hour early dismissal today because of the weather and a two hour late start is planned for tomorrow. The kids are very excited about that. Unfortunately, a lot of sports activities and Christmas events also got cancelled. Some of my students were hoping I might have to cancel class if the weather is bad tomorrow and were disappointed to learn that I live close enough to walk to school. Like most colleges where many of the students live on campus, I've been told that Dordt never cancels class for weather.

An Iowa blizzard seems very different from a Michigan blizzard. It is very, very cold here and the force of the wind is amazing. Because of the open fields across from our house, snow drifted over the street stranding several cars. Fortunately, just as I was suggesting that we go out and help all these poor unfortunate people, someone with a snow plow came by and cleared the road. There were enough stranded people that they had plenty of pushers available and they all were able to get on their way without us having to put on our boots and brave the elements.

After such a long, mild autumn, I was unprepared for this sudden plunge into arctic weather. Everyone warned me that it was coming, but I guess I hoped that this year would be the exception. It does make me a little worried about making the drive back "home" for Christmas. It also makes me think maybe I should start looking for jobs in places like Albuquerque or maybe Hawaii.