SBA Closed

Last evening, as the Headmistress of St Barbara's Academy, I made the executive decision to join the other 609 schools in NE Ohio and close for Wednesday. We are a homeschool but a homeschool with a twist; our students are bussed in....well actually, driven in by their parents. Looking at the forecast for the day, I figured the school bus drivers, I mean parents, would find it challenging to get to school. I woke my husband early with the news that the Federal Building was closed, City Hall was closed, 610 schools were closed and I was playing hookey. The governor made a plea for everyone to stay off the roads unless they absolutely needed to get out. The head of ODOT made a plea that people remain off the roadways while his crews cleared the snow. We were not daunted. We were not going to be dictated to by politicians, bureaucrats and weathermen. We were going out for breakfast!

Into the car we went, bundled against the cold and proceeded to back out of the driveway and got stuck at the end of the driveway. The car was not going forward. The car was not going backward. Back and forth, back and forth and we couldn't even get the car to rock. A young neighborhood boy soon heard out plight and came over to help out. They eventually got the car out of the street and I went inside. After a strenous time, the car was in the garage and the driveway was clear. At this point, my husband decided that he would grab his laptop and go to the restaurant alone and work on his sermon. He left; I made coffee and contemplated the leftover Cottage Cheese pancakes in the refrigerator. After approximately 5 minutes, he returned after getting struck in the street just one house away. The back streets of our suburb were not plowed and we were definitely snowed in.

Not wanting to give in and eat at home, my husband asked if I thought I could walk to the nearest restaurant through the snow. I figured with my knee replacements it would be questionable but I was ready to give it a try. We bundled up and covered all parts, stowed our cell phones in our pockets and stored our glasses in their glass cases and started off. The snow was almost to our knees so the going was slow. We stopped several times so that I could catch my breath. It was quite a cardio workout! I will always remember Valentine's Day 2007 when my heart was beating quickly at the thought of having breakfast with my honey....well, OK, it was beating from the exertion but it sounds feasible! About one third of the way there, we were defeated by the extreme effort it took to plow through the snow and headed home.

Shortly after we ate at home, we heard the snowplows going down our street and we rejoiced that we were no longer snowbound. At that point we determined to go out to lunch : ) This is the picture of our back patio with the fire pit. I love the way the snow is piled on top. The next picture is a summertime picture of our patio. Notice the pond on the right side towards the back.






Here is a picture of the pond today. The pond is over 3 feet deep so we know that the koi we have are hibernating on the bottom and will make it through the winter. I know that the pond is there and I can't even see it!! I'm thinking that my husband will have to go out and break a hole in the ice although as far as we know, the pump is continuing to circulate the water. We'll see when it thaws a bit.

Anyone for a picnic?