Alaska is one of those strange and somewhat magical places that never quits or takes a break due to weather. And through my 15 years here in this semi-Narnia-esqe land, I can remember them closing the schools all of once and a half. I say a half because I can’t quite remember if the first time actually happened or if it was just a weird dream I had one day in elementary school. And both of them where due to the roads, rather than cold.
Alaskans are stone cold die-hard refuse-to-stay-down people and thus the most the cold has ever done to the schools is made the optional when it gets down in the -60’s to -70’s. Not that that happens very often and at most I get a ride to and from school on those days.
But this week has been special because the very reason that the school has closed down for the entire three day week: the roads are covered in sleet. Looking at the road outside my window is like looking at it in the middle of a hard rainstorm, except that it’s ice, everything is covered in snow, and it’s only raining to the point that you’ll notice if you happen to be out in it for longer than five minutes.
It started sometime last week -though if you wanted you could provably trace it back further- when it suddenly got really cold and started snowing like crazy before settling down out of it’s dip into the negatives and quickly sliding uphill into the 20-30 above area. That’s all fine and dandy until you remember that when things melt in the heat they freeze all over again at night, creating a death trap in the morning.
When we got up on Monday outside had all the tell-tail signs of disaster-roads but we and a number of people (being Alaskans and all) decided it was good enough to drive to school at 7am in the dark with only one headlight.
The only reason we even got a ride was because one of my sisters came in stating “I slipped and I wasn’t even moving!” wile the one trailing her was laughing her ass off.
But we made it there without problems and I met up with everyone and then some at the table. It was there that I proclaimed it not only to be a short week because of Thanksgiving, but a short day, which got me into a short battle of “Amy you’re crazy” and “No I’m not” between myself and John. Remember this. There’ll be a quiz at the end.
The next two and a half periods where riddled with me and an assortment of people depending on which class I was in bitching about the roads and asking loudly ‘Why are we here?”. It wasn’t until the third period of the day, second period -it’s confusing, I’ll explain it later- Choir than the guys running the school realized ‘Holy Shit Serious Business People Are Getting Hurt For Reals Now’ and sent out the word that they were shipping everyone off and evacuating the school because two busses had tipped on their way here, half their staff was missing, and every other school had already had the sense to close down before them and they were scared of being the odd one out.
Lunch had started at the point when people where finely up and leaving so I met up with all but one of the table who had, had their mom come pick them up a half hour before the mess even started. John and his girl friend where there and the first thing I said to them when I sat down was, “I told you it was a short day.”
And that is just one more point towards the ‘Aims is a Fucking Physic’ fund for ‘Hell’s Yes for Children Suffering from Only Partial Lack of Foresight” fund.
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