I have to say that snow has been missing in action this winter.  There hasn’t been any snow in Kentucky, and there wasn’t any snow in Michigan (gasp!) except for a couple days the whole time that I was at home.

However, I did experience my first ever Kentucky snow days this past week.  School officials are VERY cautious about snowy roads here, and the Child and Family Development center where I serve closes when schools are closed.  There was a thin layer of snow on the ground on Tuesday, so there was no school.  The next day, Wednesday, I thought for sure that there would be school because there was like, um, no snow except in a few places that the sun doesn’t reach.  Buuuut, I was wrong.  There was no school.  So I figured that there must be more snow than I thought.  I pulled out my magnifying glass and did some investigative work.  I counted exactly 75.3 snowflakes.  Snow day officially justified!!!

Well, to be honest, I can see some very good reasons for extra caution on these rural roads because I’m pretty sure that they would be death traps for school buses (and inexperienced volunteers) to drive on in the snow.  Too many curves.  And dips and hills, but not too many places to go off the road without much trouble. What qualifies as an eastern Kentucky snow day may seem ridiculous to some, but it’s simply a fact of life in the rural areas we serve.

Ah, well, I hate winter driving.  Bring on the snow days!  But not too many.

Elizabeth L. is a long-term volunteer in Child and Family Development. She lives in McCreary Volunteer House.