"There's an inch of ice on the windshield" said Kevin as he walked back inside at 6:15am, his usual departure time. The rain that fell overnight froze on our windshields. The frost was thick enough to require more than a few scrapes from the ice scraper.
Sunday had been chilly and rainy on and off all day, bringing a cold front with it. These storms have brought with them colder daytime temperatures and freeze overnight. I will have to protect some of my fruit trees that have decided to bud anyway. I don't want to lose all my fruit crop like I did last year.The mountains outside have a fresh layer of white snow on the peaks. At this rate I may be able to hike up Miller in two weeks. I'll wait out this week's storm pattern before I decide on a plan.It's weather like this that reminds me that we are in winter after all.
Other parts of the country have had it much worse than we have, with debilitating ice storms that knocked out electricity to residents across western Kentucky late last month, to deadly bushfires in Victoria, Australia right now (173 dead so far and arson is suspected), to more threats of floodings across the Northwest and Midwest from unusually high winter temperatures.
The grass outside is covered in frost across the backyard. I bought extra birdseed to keep our feathered friends fed during this cold snap.
My Monday was another long one. I originally took a half-day assignment at a middle school but then got asked to fill in for an all-day job at an elementary school for PE, which consisted of 4th grade field hockey and first grade jumping rope. That meant I was watching kids with sticks and rope practically killing each other if they had the chance.
Things went well overall, and most of the kids were helpful and genuine angels, but there was a hellion in each class.
The most devastating incident was when one Hispanic boy called a Black boy a “Nigger.” I didn’t think I would ever hear that word from a 4th grader in this age. That is such a hate-filled, ugly word. The victim was completely crestfallen (as I was disgusted) and sat out the rest of the game. Others had witnessed the incident as well and tried to talk the boy into coming back into the play, but he sat back and held back the tears. How many times had that poor child been told that word in his life? This was a quiet, friendly boy who did not deserve this treatment.
The brat, a short and sassy kid with unruly hair, went on to say other mean things to other classmates, including making a death threat to another Black girl about “killing her.” This brat managed to totally irritate the entire group. (That made it easier for their regular teacher to write up a referral with my assistance). He also chose to disobey me.
“Whatchya gonna do to me? Send me to jail?” he said as he walked off with a smirk. How can a 4th grader be so evil? What must his family life be like? There goes a future Death Row inmate, I thought as I watched the brat walk away. Kids like this kid are the reasons so many teachers quit their jobs: because parents aren't teaching their children morals and respect.
The teacher told me that the parents were notified and were horrified, and that their only excuse was that the kid had not taken his medicines that morning. The principal later told me that that perp was a problem child and had been sent home repeatedly.
Other than this one incident and the usual falls and screams that come with elementary school children in a PE class, it was a nice day. I did more jumping jacks, push-ups and mountain climbers than I've done since my retirement. (Thankfully I still do push-ups and sit-ups on my own most nights just to maintain the conditioning.) The mountains from the school yard looked especially pretty, as I could see the entire range covered in white. But before school let out we received an intercom message about a possible school closure for tomorrow due to the next storm due in early in the morning.
Cold winds increased as the night progressed, making my drive home from my Anthro class especially treacherous. I am slated to work at the high school tomorrow but will be notified by 5am whether the schools have been closed for the day. According to the local newspaper, it doesn't look too nice for tomorrow morning and I will be careful. We have not had a bad storm since last May; everything else since then blew through the state too fast to make an impact, or bypassed us entirely. This time Carr Canyon Road has been closed off at the bottom to prevent any more idiots from getting stuck in ice and snow at 7000.'
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/doc4990d1af6f036650521014.txt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7879979.stm
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/06/most-miserable-cities-business-washington_0206_miserable_cities.html
No comments:
Post a Comment