St. Christopher's School Wrestling

I grew up in central Pennsylvania, where snow in the winter months was inevitable. It was just something we dealt with; I don't recall missing more than a day from school because of the weather each year. But once I moved south of the Mason-Dixon Line, if the threat of snow is in the forecast, you can bet that we won't have school. I remember a day in January, 2000 when I was teaching at Mount Calvary Catholic School and it began to snow and rain just about the same time school started. The school kept us in class until about 11 am and decided to send us home because the roads were getting icy. No big deal. But about an hour after school let out early, the snow stopped, the sun came out, and the temperature rose to almost 50 degrees! I wasn't complaining, because who in their right mind would argue about a free afternoon, but it was just so comical to watch the school scramble to figure out what to do about the weather.

We made a good decision by not driving down to Virginia Beach for the Ocean Lakes Tournament this weekend. For starters, we got a ton of snow that would make it extremely difficult to get back to Richmond. Plus, most of the teams in the tournament dropped out because of the forecast. It gives us a week to prepare for our post-season run for eight straight  VA Prep League and nine consecutive VISAA State titles.

Now once the snow fell, I watched from the window of my apartment to see how long it took the Department of Transportation to plow (or at least treat) the roads during the storm...nothing until after the snow stopped. In Pennsylvania, the plows are out scraping the snow as it falls, to help keep the roads drivable. Not the case in Virginia; we wait until after all of the snow has piled up on the roads, then try to fix the damage. Meaning, my car was plowed in on the street. See, living in downtown Richmond does not afford me a parking space somewhere safe. No, I have to park on a street that has two hour parking. Not only do I have to move my car every few hours so I don't get ticketed, but I have to dig it out of the snow that is pushed off the road. Good thing my landlord keeps a shovel handy in the lobby.

I don't understand why it was nearly impossible to find a brush and scraper for my car in all of Richmond. Apparently I left my brush and scraper on the bus we took to Delaware for the Beast of the East. Each store I went to told me the same thing, "it's a seasonal item".  DUH! The last time I checked, January was part of the winter season! It was funny to watch my fellow Richmond-ers dig their cars out of the snowbanks using plastic boxes, milk jugs, and other assorted items and scrape their windshields off with CD cases! I didn't know MacGuyver lived in Richmond. Where are the duct tape and gum wrappers?

That brings me to driving in the snow. I used to getting tailed closely by cars while driving in Richmond- when the weather is good. But this morning, I nearly got rear ended by a joker who was following me too close on a slippery Broad Street. Of course this joker was driving with one hand while talking on his phone. Many people in Virginia think that they can drive the same, normal speed they do during good weather in the snow. They don't realize that when freezing or solid water hits the ground, it makes driving difficult! Four-wheel drive does you NO good on ice either! When will these people realize that you can't drive like a maniac on snowy roads? I don't worry about my driving when it snows; I learned how to drive in the snow by not over steering, not jamming on the gas or the brake pedals, and giving those around me enough space so if they lose it, I don't whack them from behind.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with any more snowy weather through the rest of the season. The last thing I want to do is drive to Nationals in a blizzard with a bunch of kids in the back of the bus. See you at Prep League!