Good frozen morning to you all!

We’re at 9 below here in Minnesota with a 31 below wind chill. And that is why many school districts have cancelled school and evening activities for today. Except for St. Paul.  Minneapolis is closed, as is Anoka Hennepin and Rochester.  So, of the four biggest school districts in MN, St. Paul is the only one open.

I’m so sorry, St. Paul teachers and kids and support staff.

See, one of the problems with this extreme cold is that the diesel that the school buses run on turns to gel and the buses can stall.  And, being stuck outside without a source of heat is not a good thing for a bus full of little ones.

So, I am placing the lack of St. Paul Schools having a cold day directly on the lack of lobbying efforts by the bus systems that SPS uses. All the more reason to be sure to include persuasive speaking in our curriculums!!! (said the former speech teacher)

My dad who taught in the Red Wing Senior High for over thirty years used to say that Kenny Lee who owned Lee Lines which provided the buses for the district had the ear of the superintendent on snow and ice days. He informed the super when the buses would roll and when they wouldn’t. Maybe I can blame him for only having one snow day during my 13 years of public schooling! And that was when I was a senior!

I remember because I walked downtown, bought some fabric and made a tunic!

I do remember some days when school was called early, though. And, I remember one time when the powers that be were talking about parceling out the country kids to friends in the city because the buses might not be able to get them home. I think that was in seventh grade.

Anybody who was in the city walked home. No one came to pick them up. But then we were dressed for it, too.

I walked home with my dad seventh grade through twelfth, unless one of us had a meeting or play practice. He would whistle as he walked, using his long stride as percussion and to keep the beat. often they would be Sousa marches, brisk and happy.

It was a gradual uphill walk on  Fourth Street. Before Dutch Elm disease and then a tornado, a canopy of trees arced over the wide street. Then a block before home, the hill steepened.  When it was icy, we walked in the snow to get a grip to keep from sliding back.  Once we got to the top of the street there was a little flat respite before we had to cross Cedar Street.

That particular intersection was  wider than usual. Walking across it was tricky because a) you had to watch for cars coming around the corner,  b) you had to watch for cars coming around the corner and turning left,  c) it was the literal crest of another hill that ran down toward the river, perpendicular to the hill we had just climbed up and d) if it was icy and you wanted to stay on the crest of that hill, you were almost walking into the traffic on Fourth Street.

When it wasn’t icy you just had to worry about a, b, and c.

Once you reached the sidewalk on the other side, you were home safe. Almost literally, because it was now flat and we lived in the middle of that block.

Despite the ice and snow, it was a beautiful 15-20 minute walk from school which was at that time downtown.

You know, small town square, park in the middle, rimmed by the high school, a Lutheran church, the Methodist church, the Masonic Temple, the Episcopalian church, another Lutheran church, some apartments where the Assistant Principal lived, an insurance agency, yet another Lutheran church, and the county courthouse.  The library was a block from that as were the downtown businesses.

Great place to grow up.

And now onto the title. Hay-Wit is short for HWIT, or How Weird Is That. Check past posts for reference to the many weird coincidences I was experiencing earlier.

HWIT  now has a cousin, HCIT, or How Cool Is That.    Thanks, Heather!

I experienced Hay-Cit yesterday while volunteering at my favorite elementary school. I was given a four page review for a second grade math test and asked to go over it with a student so he could take the test at recess.

Now, one of my mantras while teaching sixth grade was to start each day anew. Fresh start. For all. Now matter how much they had ticked me off the day before.

So, I used that now with this kid, with whom I had some problems before break.  I decided to consider him smart and able and willing to succeed, which he definitely did not demonstrate the last two times I had worked with him.

Clean slate. Start over. Redo.

And it worked. Fabulously.  We had a great time working together and he succeeded in finishing the review and was, I think, in great shape for the test.   HCIT!

++++++

One more thing I wanted to tell you before signing off for the day and SEWING!  You know how things happen in threes? And how if two things happen, you’re just apprehensively waiting around for the third to appear?  Well, I was having brain farts. The first two were startling: I gave a friend the wrong address for this blog, and I pulled up on the wrong side of the gas pumps.  Holy Mistakes, Batman!!!

A day went by with no brarting ( brain farting). And then, it happened. Thought it was my second day of volunteering when I show up to sixth grade instead of my first day when I show up to second.  I happened to see a student at his locker secretively palm something, look both ways, close his locker and head back to class.

I know this action. I taught sixth grade. So, I stopped in to tell his teacher, who is a friend of mine, to watch out for the possibility of contraband.

Turns out that this is the classroom I am supposed to be in anyway, and HE is the student I will be working with.

HWIT!!!!!!!

Co-inky-dinks  abounding,

Janet