Snow

At the beginning of the week, I found out that snow was expected for today. With every fiber of my being I believed that it would snow today. And that church would be cancelled. This is very important because I was scheduled to teach today.

Some background. Vancouver is not equipped for snow because it only snows once or twice a year. With the tiniest hint of snow or ice, things pretty much shut down. I remember when school was cancelled for a friendly quarter-inch powder that melted by noon. When I was a Senior, school was cancelled an entire week for an ice storm. I was horrified when I experienced my first Utah winter where everyone is expected to function normally even with a foot of snow on the ground. Snow is for cancelled school and for watching movies all day while drinking cocoa. Not for trudging around in slush. I was ecstatic to return to Vancouver where the response to snow is appropriately dramatic. It was by no means a far-fetched idea that church could be cancelled today.

So, obviously I didn't prepare my lesson all week. Every fiber within me believed that it would not be necessary. I congratulated myself on my luck. I will get to stay home all day watching Anne of Green Gables and I wont have to teach for another month, I thought to myself. Yesterday was cold and crisp and smelled like snow. My inkling was confirmed. It would snow, church would be cancelled, and there would be no need for my lesson. 

As midnight approached last night, my confidence briefly cracked. I grudgingly spent an hour putting together a lesson, knowing that I was wasting my time. I woke up without an alarm at 7:30 in anticipation of the good news. I quickly opened up my blinds and was annoyed to see no snow. I was completely sure that it would come, but it was inconvenient that I couldn't go back to sleep knowing that the snow was already on the ground. At a quarter to 9, my mom knocked on my door and bestowed the good news. I opened my blinds. It was snowing. 

The ground was slowly becoming white, and the crisp air seemed to ensure that the snow was here to stay. Then. Small bits of rain mixed with the snow. 

Then more rain. 

And soon the ground wasn't white at all. I frantically checked the thermometer and opened up google weather for Vancouver. Maybe wet ground was even better because all we needed was a quick freeze and the roads would be impossibly icy. Of course! That was it. Icy roads are much more treacherous than snow-powdered roads. The temperature was 34 degrees. Two degrees colder and the ground would freeze over. Two degrees. I began checking my email, phone and facebook minutely for church updates. Sometimes even the threat of future inclement weather is enough. Everything within me believed that I would get an email/text/facebook message saying that, just to be safe, church would be cancelled. 

Then the temperature went up to 34.8 degrees. Then 35. THEN 36.1 degrees. I almost felt defeated. But, as I was driving to church, I knew that it would snow during the first hour of church, and the Bishop would announce that the rest of church was cancelled. 

He did not. And I gave my lesson. And even as I was standing in front of the classroom, part of me still truly believed that someone was going to interrupt my lesson and send everyone home due to the weather. 

I gave my whole lesson. When I left church the sky was blue and the ground was damp. It is still 36 degrees.