I don't know what it is about this year but it seems to be flying by... like this month...
Enjoy and I will see you late on Tuesday for the next one.
FIVE - Icy snowflakes or soft snow blankets covering the ground
Without even seeing the look on her face, Eddie knew that Rachel was worrying.
When the weather forecast had said about a chance of snow, he knew that Rachel had hoped that it was a small chance. But it had been a rather cold winter and as much as he had heard her denial over a few flakes of snow that had come down that night as they drove home ("It won't lay. It never lays. The ground isn't frozen enough for that."), Eddie was a little unsure where her wishful thinking started and her delusion started.
But that morning they had opened the curtains to a blanket of snow covering their driveway and front garden. The back garden looked no different when Eddie popped his head out of the bathroom window and he knew that Rachel's thoughts would be going a million miles an hour.
He knew that he wanted to say something comforting, like the fact that it was Saturday and there was plenty of time for it to disappear before Monday morning. But even he didn't believe that. It was the thickest snow that he had seen in years and by the state of the road that their driveway led out to, he could imagine that the roads would be lethal, even if they had been gritted.
That chance of snow wasn't small.
And the thin layer that had been forecast wasn't thin.
This snow was easily going to be sticking around for a couple of days at a minimum.
The swear word that left Rachel's lips wasn't unfound. Every year, so much planning went on to make sure that the school was as safe as possible over the winter months. Their worst enemy was ice. But the snow had brought a new element to their plans. Which they had sort of accounted for. But there was no telling as to how dangerous the car park and playground would be until they got to the school. And there was no telling how much snow there would be on Monday morning.
"We will make a decision tomorrow," Eddie said calmly.
"You know everyone will be calling for a snow day," Rachel said.
"That might work for the younger years but the Sixth Formers needs to be in. They've got exams in January. This is the last week of making sure that they are ready for them."
"But can we have half the school in when the other half isn't?"
"Hence why it needs to be a decision for tomorrow. I've got the caretaker's number. I can give him a text to ask him, if he thinks it is safe enough, to go and evaluate the school grounds and then we can make a decision from there."
The sigh that then left Rachel's lips was also understandable. And they were easily going to make a decision that not many people agreed with. But Eddie hoped that was tomorrow's problem. Because he wanted to spend some time with Rachel in the unnaturally deep snow for Rochdale and enjoy it. He was just unsure about how he was going to make sure that Rachel enjoyed it as well.