Yesterday, at 5:30 am, heavy snow was falling. I went out to start the car and was surprised at how densely the snow was falling, how thoroughly covered my car was, and how really pretty every thing was. It was a white, silent, and lovely scene.

Two more days before three colleagues and I take off for London with our fourteen 9th grade students, and I still have a few things to do. My black “to-do” book has several pages full of little notes about jobs that must get done. With classes to teach and papers to grade and a snowstorm arriving to complicate things, my life may be a bit messy for the next few days.