Retraction

Spring may be in the air, but the air is not in spring.  Case in point, today, April 24th, it was in the 30's and snowing.  Yes, I typed that correctly.  Snow-ing.  (sigh) 

The morning began a little chilly, but today was our annual Pancake Breakfast event. One of my favorite parents came in bright and early to begin grilling pancakes for the kids so they could enjoy the maple syrup made from our Pioneer Field trip at the Nature Center.  It's a delicious way to start off the school day and the kids really enjoyed it.  It was so much fun we didn't even notice the chilly rain beginning to fall outside the classroom windows.   

Bellies full, the students skipped off to PE, where I apologized in advance to the gym teacher and notified her of the sweet breakfast they had all just eaten.  A little bit of sugar goes a long way with an eight/nine year old.  I headed back to my classroom to get as much done as possible so I wouldn't have to take even more home, and attacked several piles of papers that needed checking on my desk.   Lucky for me, my desk looks out on the playground, and I took a few moments of peace and quiet (a rarity in my day) to enjoy the rows of bright, yellow daffodils outside and the green grass.  It was still raining a bit and I noticed the rain drops seemed a bit icy as I listened to them on the window panes. 

Daffodils & Snow

After picking up the kids from the gym, we entered the classroom and saw big, fluffy flakes of snow falling outside the window.  Two or three students raced to the windows, smiling and laughing at the sight of snow, when, just yesterday they had enjoyed almost 70 degree temperatures outside at recess, sans coat.  

Then a voice erupted from the other side of the room.  "Nooooo.  Noooooo....", came the voice.  And then he sped it up a bit. "No. No. No. No...."    All eyes turned to him to see what all the fuss was about.  He was shaking his head but had a smile on his face.

"Is it really snowing?" he groaned.  Thirteen little ones confirmed it.  

"But look how big the snowflakes are," one added, trying to comfort the upset boy.

That did little to make many feel better as they realized that there was a possibility of indoor recess.   It took a bit of coaxing and a stern voice, but I got the students back working and soon they forgot about the weather.  As the morning went on, the snow flurries continued.   A little girl approached me, clutching her math journal, on the pretense of asking me a question about a math problem.   

"How come the snow isn't sticking on the ground?  There are so many snowflakes but there isn't any on the ground," she said as she pointed out the window.

"Well, why do you think there isn't snow on the ground?" I asked.  With that three or four other students, who were sitting close by, joined in and gave their opinions.  

"It's too warm, that's why," explained one.  His friend nodded.

"No, it's not too warm if it's snowing!  It has to be 32 degrees to snow," countered one smart little darling.   They all hesitated to digest that little fact.  She had a point.  But that still didn't explain why the snow wasn't sticking on the ground.

"Well, yesterday it was so hot.  That's why the snow isn't sticking on the ground.  Because the ground is still hot!  It hasn't cooled off yet,"  beamed one.   Although I wouldn't call the 68 degree day we had yesterday hot, it was close enough, and just like that they all turned and got busy finishing up their math while the snow swirled outside the window.  

Just before recess (which was indoor because the snow had turned to a cold rain by then), I passed by the boy's desk who had been so adamant about no snow earlier in the day.   "Hey, look what I did!" he called to me, pointing his pencil to a paper on his desk.

I looked.  And there on his desk was a very nice sketch of some snowflakes surrounding a boy who had a distressed look on his face and a speech bubble that read:  "Oh nooooooo....more snow!"  

He smiled up at me.  "I made a poem since it's poetry month!"

"Genius!" I commended him.  "Pure genius! You're a poet and you don't even know it!"

With that he laughed out loud and so did I.  

Because sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.  And besides, I hear it's going to be in the 50's tomorrow.  A regular heat wave.