When I helped my daughter move into her student apartment at the beginning of her school year, Hurricane Irene came tromping by to interrupt. Now? It is parents’ weekend at her college, and we had a winter storm at the end of October, one that dumped snow in areas of the Eastern seaboard that don’t generally see snow until late November if not December or January. For my daughter, it’s a mild nuisance, since her apartment is a short walk away from campus that does not require crossing streets. ((More than a mild nuisance if it’s mixed precipitation, but not as dangerous as if street crossing or driving on streets were involved.)) For me, I am staying about 10 miles away, so I had to judge my schedule yesterday by the “how slick/icy will the roads be when” risk. We didn’t get to the off-campus excursion we had planned, nor did I get to take her out to dinner. Today, maybe, for both.
But, while I was on and near campus, I got to meet other parents, including several I had met last year. I also got a tour of my daughter’s sophomore lab space and an experiment she’s working on. And we had a chance to chat about several things and I had a chance to see her campus when it was … well, precipitating might be the best description.
In response to the weather yesterday, my daughter ordered tire chains for her footwear. Okay, so they’re not called tire chains, but to me, who never had the advantage of such devices, they look exactly like tire chains sized for a person’s shoe or boot, so that’s what I’ll continue to call them. I wish I had had them when living in a temperate climate and worried several times a year about icy sidewalks. In summary, I am all in favor of my daughter walking around with tire chains. ((You didn’t anticipate that last sentence? Shame on you: it was staring you in the face the whole paragraph.))