My department chair just called me up and strongly urged me to cancel my classes and stay home today. Cool! We got snow yesterday, which has now turned to rain, which is causing some serious flooding. It’s not the sort of flooding that will put us in danger as long as we’re at home, but it has flooded the roads enough that some of them are probably closed and traffic is surely terrible. My department chair tried to get to school and turned back when she saw that cars on the highway were in water up to their doors.
So I should be thrilled to have this day at home, but instead I feel anxious. I don’t like missing class because it messes up our rhythm, gets us behind, and generally confuses things. And I’ve been so busy lately — I’ve been used to moving at a pretty fast pace (fast for me) — that I don’t quite know how to deal with the free time. It’s hard to shift gears so abruptly. Do I just sit around in the middle of the day and read Virginia Woolf? I guess so …
Of Books and Bicycles 
Yes, it’s really difficult, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s the case for you but we are being asked to reduce the contact time we have with students so drastically that getting all material in that we need to teach is difficult enough anyway without missing whole sessions. Just remember, if you were washed away in the flood you would lose even more time!
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Ooh, relax and enjoy! Bring on the tea and the latest novel and a comfy chair. Have fun, Dorothy, you’re sure to catch up fast.
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Yes, yes, yes….a hot drink, a good book – go for it!
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Sorry to hear about the bad weather, but I hope you did enjoy your free day. We’ve yet to get a day off due to bad weather. Last week we had snow and the university closed at 4:00–just when I go home!
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I’d decide to reorganize all the books in the house, or get going on a project like putting together a scrapbook that would never get finished, or something equally ridiculous. Don’t be like me (you don’t want to be that neurotic). Relax and enjoy!
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Yes, sit around with a good book… and tell us all about it of course 🙂
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I do know that unplugged sensation that comes from suddenly having a change of plan. I do hope that you ended up having a lovely, restful, serene day, once your brain had switched to the necessary gear!
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I hope you enjoyed your surprise day off! How did you spend it? Reading I hope!
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Thank you everyone — I did have a nice time once I settled down a bit and I got a lot of Virginia Woolf read, which was good. And now I’m heading into a 4-day weekend — what luxury!
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