Yesterday I received a phone recording to inform me that school had been canceled. Outside there was more snow than we had seen since arriving in Douglas County - not enough to close schools in Utah. I remember taking Jenna to school when the snow was higher than she was - though I'm sure even Salt Lake would consider closing if the snow were actually as tall as she is now.
Northern Utah is equipped with salt and bulldozers and snowplows, etc. It's actually routine. And the schools calendars account for snow days. The citizens don't encounter the harsh weather in this part of Oregon - or so we've been told. Bus drivers already have the challenge of a narrow and windy road with drops on either side. They haven't been trained to deal with the elements of slick roads due to snow and ice.
My son has complained about getting stuck in the snow, and Jenna offers no sympathy it has been her hope to have an opportunity to play in the white stuff as she did in Utah. Yesterday provided her that opportunity. She decided to spend her snow day sliding down hill.
She moved to an area closer to the house - closer to the pipe where the hose is connected. She crashed into the pipe and we had a fountain in our yard for about 20 minutes. We're not blaming her. I think the person who sold the house tried to cover up the flaws rather than repair them. I honestly believe the weak pipe was one of those flaws.
Plumbers aren't as available here as they are in Salt Lake. Contractors, electricians and so forth might live within the county, but it's highly probable that they come from another county altogether. I don't even remember who we called, but I thought it would take a while and wanted the water shut off so that we wouldn't have to be billed for the ice skating rink that was starting to form in our yard.
After the water was shut off, our neighbor from behind us drove around to assist. I don't know if he's a licensed plumber, but he's certainly less costly and just as efficient. Roland was still on the clock as he tried to remove the water from the pipe so that our neighbor could repair. They turned the water back on and everything seems to be working. We covered the pipe so it didn't freeze overnight.
Buses were delayed again for two hours this morning. The snow can be seen on some of the hilltops, but no longer on the trees. I suspect any snow that can be seen from the house will be gone by the time Jenna returns.
After she had gone to school on Tuesday, I had purchased some chocolate cherries for Cherry Chocolate Day. We held our candy upside down so that they looked like cups and we made a pretend toast.
Yesterday we made up questionnaires and looked up trivia games on line as it was trivia day. Today is whipped cream day. Before she left the house I had her listen to "Whipped Cream" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (here) and we started watching the 1961 version of the parent trap as I thought the twins might have worn whipped cream on their faces in the scene where they are fighting during the dance at camp. They don't. But it almost looks like it could be on one face.
We did not finish. We will watch the remaining 45 minutes after she gets home. Maybe we could even make and eat whipped cream. We'll see. We obviously can't make purchases for every single (non) holiday. That would get too expensive.
