The snow is finally starting to melting after our big wintry adventures the couple past weeks.
It all started two Thursdays ago. I knew it was supposed to snow, but I wasn't prepared for all the snow that came. A friend of Kathryn's was staying with us for an Angus event through the weekend. We decided to give her a taste of college life, and since our Ethics in Agriculture class was having a guest speaker, a professor of biochemistry, Kathryn asked permission for her to come along.
We woke up to snow and decided to carpool. Kathryn drove, of course. Now, normally, Kathryn and I walk from the parking lot up to Mumford to get our exercise in. With the snow, however, we decided the bus would be a nice change of scenery. So, we caught the bus which took us to the main campus, got off at the ag building and hiked our way through the snow to class. Snow was blowing everywhere, and this snow was "angry." It was thunder-snow so we heard loud claps of thunder and the snowflakes were the largest I'd ever seen them.
We got to class, learned about genetically modified organisms and the snow continued. Many of our classmates were absent, and the building felt empty. It was slightly eerie. After class, we bundled back up, snapped a photo and headed back into the wild. But, before exiting I decided to check my email for any cancelled classes. One by one, each of my classes' professors sent emails canceling class. And then the big one came--Mizzou is officially closing up shop! Shouts for glee, and then the realization-uh, we'd better get out of here! If Mizzou's closing, it must be serious.
We made it back to the car, pushed off the inches (yes, I mean inches) of snow that had accumulated within the two hours we were gone, and tried to find the local radio station. That was harder than I thought it'd be. Finally, we found some news and made the decision to travel through town rather than over the highway. Turned out to be a good decision, because I saw later reports showing the highway was a total mess.
It took us about an hour and a half to get across town at less than ten miles per hour. The wind was going crazy and we literally couldn't see ten feet in front of us. To make matters worse, the windshield wipers were freezing up and Kathryn basically had to drive from memory and nerve. We made it clear across town and turned onto our road, climbed the hill but suddenly we were stuck. In the middle of the road.
But, fortunately for us, I suppose, we weren't the only ones stuck so we weren't exactly in the way of anyone else. And we met a few neighbors who helped get the car out the road. And I made homemade chicken noodle soup and Kathryn's friend made cookies. It was a good day overall.
The next day we had a snow day from school and we dug Kathryn's car out, so it was all good. But I must say, I felt real old because scooping all that snow made me stiff. I guess using a plastic container instead of a shovel might not have helped that... I gained a much greater appreciation for my dad, the tractor and a blade.
While our snow traveling adventures were an adventure, I was glad Mizzou called off right away the following Tuesday when we got the same storm again. This time we got shovels too. Hey- we're college kids. We're learning!
Today in my science, technology and society class we talked about global warming. I personally thought the timing was spectacular.
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