When I was a kid, and because I was a teacher for many years, all the way up until I was in my early 40’s the word snow day brought warm, fuzzy, happy feelings. It still does, but not as much as it used to — since I work from home for a consulting company anyway.

Surprise snow days were the best — and the rarest. I’d fall asleep thinking I had to get up and go to school the next day but instead I’d wake up to an entire free day. A day that I didn’t expect to have. It was like a gift of 8 hours. I could do whatever I wanted to do. I could go back to bed if I wanted to — but never did because sleep would be a waste of all that free time.

Snow days that were not a surprise were wonderful too because of the anticipation. Would school be called off? Should I do my homework/grading? Of course when school was not canceled it was a real disappointment; but if it was canceled the day belonged to me.

Once my kids were in school I’d vicariously feel their delight when they heard that school was called off. I even sometimes wore my own pajamas inside out and backwards to help with the cancellations. There’s not much more pleasant than bedhead, giggly, happy children with visions of a long lazy day ahead of them, while fat flakes of snow fall from the sky.

It’s snowing today and is supposed to continue snowing through tonight and well into tomorrow afternoon. The National Weather Service is calling for 20 – 28 inches around the DC Metro area. The local citizens are calling this a snowpocalypse on social media sites. Local schools are closed or closing early. The federal government will close 4 hours early. Neighbors tell me that the milk is sold out at the local grocery stores. We’ve got enough food to last the few days it will take to shovel us out. I sincerely hope we don’t lose our power though — we don’t have enough wood to keep us warm.

I’ve not been watching the local news recently — I spent a lot of time preparing for my book group — but I know they’ve probably been talking this snow up. And I bet that if I turned the television on right now I’d see a chilly TV news personality standing on some street corner talking about the snow. In a few hours they will have rulers to measure the snow. As corny and predicable as they are — I find them endearing.

So even though I still have to work and even though my day is not any more free than it would have been had it not been snowing, I’m getting that warm, fuzzy, happy feeling I remember from my younger days.