Ice Age

A sheet of ice had covered the world as we slept. Schools were closed and classes at the Frankie Lemmon School were canceled all day as the ice spread throughout Raleigh. It was the top story in the news. "Team coverage” covered it all… how the state was under a winter storm warning, how city trucks were spreading salt brine on the streets, how traffic – and below-freezing temperatures – weren’t moving anytime soon. It was a snow day without snow! I was home with a bad cold but convinced myself: "As long as we don't lose power, we'll be fine."

So what to do today: Act profound? Try to not think about penguins? Create a new language for my sock puppet? I ended up Googling the Internet for famous January 11s of the past. Here are some that I found: in 1970 the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7 in Superbowl IV; in 1963 the Beatles released "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why"; and in 1787 Titania and Oberon, moons of Uranus, were discovered by William Herschel.

Who knew?

And let’s not forget Francis Scott Key, writer of the "National Anthem" of the United States, who died on January 11, 1843! Anyhow, I dreamed of the end of this Ice Age, and of the spring thaw that will surely follow. And with it, no more bunkering down – my friends will again come to school. I look forward to seeing them again.

The Truth About Snow

Most of us have seen snow. You’ve all heard how snow begins in the clouds, how it comes from the sky, how it sometimes causes school to close.

But some children don’t believe in snow. It's not hard to understand why – many of them have never seen it. In their minds snow is like Charlie Brown, Rudolph, and Santa’s elves. It’s just another Christmas thing they see in animated Christmas specials that they wish was true but isn’t. Some children don’t even believe in mittens – or in snow forts or frozen ponds or in making snowmen or snow angels.

But snow is real. Just ask any Eskimo. Or any penguin. Or ask my friends who made snow prints today. Each of them created a snowflake on paper (with a little help from our teachers). Afterwards they could turn it this way and that and appreciate the beauty of a single snowflake. And – as each child is different and unique – each snowflake was different and unique.

And now my friends can recognize real snowflakes; they are not make-believe after all. With uplifted faces they can run joyfully and carelessly through the falling snow, catching all they can on their tongues. Because my teachers made them see them before they came to be. Because seeing is believing.

But sometimes believing is seeing – Isn’t that what faith is all about – when we know that something is real even if we don’t see it?