Snow Days in the Northwoods

We have been hit with the coldest weather in decades here in the Northwoods. Noses are running, fireplaces blazing and turkeys freezing in their roost.  We started the week with a perfectly timed snow storm and gusting winds, forcing school to close on Monday. We braved the sub zero temps on Tuesday (quadratics don't teach themselves, people), but when the sun went down Tuesday, the wind came up. School was preemptively cancelled for Wednesday and Thursday as well as all after school activities. Even businesses are closing. You know its bad when bars close in Wisconsin. In the last few hours it has warmed to feel like a balmy -40 F.

So in the course of nine days, including the two weekends, we will have had school on two of those days with at least two days off between. While I can't downplay the importance of rest, the schedule certainly throws a wrench into planning and instructing.  But I can use that wrench to loosen my need for control and tighten my focus on the big picture.

Mother nature reminds me today that there are large forces at work in the growing and learning that young people do, forces larger than any one person.  Sometimes those forces come in the form of blessings, like a supportive family. Sometimes they come as tragedy, like the untimely death of a loved one.

I am reminded that these forces are often complex things with all sorts of influences that can appear over long periods of time.  And while each one is different in nature, one thing they all have in common is that there can be good, beautiful outcomes that grow from them.

So while I look out at the the bright sun and beautiful clear skies that accompany this chill, I'm warmed a little inside by the knowledge that beauty and goodness can accompany even the coldest of days.