Hurricane Ian has been battering Florida, and South Carolina should be experiencing the effects of said battering today, albeit to a vastly diminished degree.  The weather is calling for high winds and lots of rain, but nothing that seems (to me, anyway) particularly dangerous.  I just wouldn’t recommend hanging out underneath any old trees.

Naturally, the slightest degree of inclemency prompts the shuttering of all operations for those of us in the cushier fields like education.  Fear of the “L Word”—Liability—means my administration has opted to close the school today, lest some witless teen driver find himself, wheels spinning, in a watery ditch.

Of course, in this post-The Virus era—here in The Days After The Age of The Virus—there are no longer inclement weather “holidays,” as there were in The Before Times, in the Long, Long Ago.  Now we can hop seamlessly online, teaching and learning from the comfort of our couches.

Normally I’d scoff at the idea of taking a day out of school—because, essentially, it will be a day off from school—because of some wind and rain, but after this week, I’m looking forward to a slower day.  It’s been a wild one for yours portly.

By the time this post goes live, I will have taught twenty lessons this week.  That’s down from the twenty-three I taught last week, but considering I’ve done these twenty in four days instead of five is telling.  I managed to get most of my Friday students (all of whom I planned to see on campus, which is now, of course, closed) rescheduled, and was unable to reschedule only three of them.  Not bad!

Of course, in a normal week that would make for some long, busy days, but it was also Homecoming Week at school, which found me staying at school late Monday and Wednesday for our Powderpuff and Homecoming football games, respectively (the big Homecoming game was moved to Wednesday night due to the approaching storm).  Homecoming Week also meant my students playing assemblies nearly every morning this week.  I think I have moved one piano about six times (more on that in Saturday’s post).

On top of Homecoming, it was revival this week at my church.  I was slated to sing a duet with my buddy John for the final night of revival Wednesday, but had to abandon my musical compatriot to the hastily-rescheduled Homecoming game.  I attended the Tuesday service, rushing up there after finishing lessons at 6:30 PM.  I nearly fell asleep at the altar praying near the end of the service.  Yikes!

So, needless to say, I am thankful for this (likely unnecessary) distance learning day.  I think the ease of hopping online proves to be a powerful incentive for risk-averse school administrators to decree, “Eh, it’s looking a little overcast; let’s go online for a day or two.”  It still counts as a school day, so there’s nothing to make up later.

Still, it’s not exactly the best for students, and I’m glad we’re not going back to it full-time.  Even with The Virus still lingering about in the shadows, I think everyone has stopped pretending like it’s the Black Death.  Even my Branch Covidian boss isn’t likely to shift us back to an online format if the Omega Variant or the like hits.

Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to a quiet, rainy day.  I hate to loose out on lessons, but I need the rest.

Happy Friday!

—TPP