I got up this morning to the sound of my cell phone vibrating. The text message read “hey, no school today” (thanks Martin). I placed the phone on the bed and went back to sleep. I got up a few hours later and checked my email. In my inbox, there was an email from UTSC that re-stated what I already knew: Today was a snow day. I looked outside the window. It was tremendous. Snow is a beautiful thing when experienced from the convenience of your room. The trees were covered with inches of snow, the road was unplowed, little kids with their knee high boots were helping their dads shovel. It was picturesque, Disney-like, and then I noticed my car buried under 5 foot of snow. The thought of going outside in the cold and shoveling so I could get the car in the garage was distressing. The snow was coming down hard, if I waited any longer, I would have no chance of getting my car out. The thought of not having a car for the weekend was motivating enough to make the journey downstairs. I got my gloves on, put on the hoodie, and shoveled for at least an hour.

As picturesque as it was outside, I came home as soon as the car was in the garage and vowed never to go outside again for the day.

I’ll be the first to admit; I am getting old. Snow days aren’t the same. It is unfortunate that I am more concerned about getting the car into the garage than putting on my snow pants to go sledding. Things change with time. I am not sure I like it.