Snow Day!

Since Monday, Bristol had received amazing amounts of snow, the like of which have not been seen for the past 18 years. Tuesday, I was teaching a year 2 class (6 & 7 year olds) and they all got SOAKED from the snow. I didn't care in the least, as I felt it was a very important experience for them to have. It had not snowed and stayed in Bristol in their lifetimes.

Last night, we were hit with another huge dump, about 5 cm. I know that this doesn't seem like much to Saskatchewanians and Manitobans, but we have the budget and infrastructure in place to deal with it. Bristol, on the other hand, is running out of grit for the roads. I was slated to work today, as was James. He left bright and early, and struggled up the hill to catch the bus. He catches the bus at on a busy road, and after waiting for 10 minutes without seeing a bus at all, he knew something was amiss. He tried to call the bus company, but couldn't get through. He came home to let me know that buses weren't running. This was confirmed by BBC, but no mention was made of it on the bus company's website. Stupid bus company.

At first I as really surprised that the buses were canceled, but I am very used to Regina and Saskatoon, both of which are reasonably flat, both of which have snow plows running 24 hours a day, and both of which have residents who own snow tires. Here, not so much. James and I watched a car try to drive up the street in front of our house. It was going at a crawling pace, with very little purchase, sliding sideways as much as moving forward. I can't imagine that the buses would have fared much better.

I knew that I had to try to still get to work, 30 five- and six-year-olds can't be left to their own devices all day. I tried to book a taxi to no avail. Calling at 7:45, the earliest I would possibly get picked up was 9:30. I book the cab, and called my agency to let them know what was going on. They asked that I try to get to the school as soon as I could. About an hour later, I got a call back, advising me to stay at home, as not many children made it into school either. SNOW DAY!

We took full advantage of the snow, and went to play in the park. Sadly, we don't own a sled, but we did build a snowman. We got many complements, and had one of the best looking snowmen in the park, because I am a snowman pro, and had the foresight bring a scarf and a carrot for the nose.