March 3, 2019 LET IT SNOW

Snow--Glorious--Snow. Why has THOU failed me?? Snowing on a Friday night?? How is that helpful?? Every TEACHER and STUDENT out there is shaking their head!! Thought it was clear by now.  We ONLY want you to fall DURING THE WEEK. We need DELAYS and SNOW DAYS--DAMN-IT. The winter months are LONG--INTERMINABLE--TEDIOUS. We're doing HARD time in a GERM cesspool. EVERYONE is HACKING and SNEEZING. Garbage cans are filled to the rim with KLEENEX--quite frankly-- it's a fire hazard.  We need relief. We need rest. We need a break. That's where you come in. Don't  you  to realize how much we rely on you?? Need you?? Okay. You have a chance to make amends. YUP--there's a WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT. All you have to do is SNOW enough for at LEAST a delay. I'd prefer a SNOW DAY but I don't want to seem GREEDY. Oh snow--How do I love Thee?? Let it me count the flakes.

 Could have used a snow day last week because I had to really hunker down to finish Markus Zusak's new book Bridge of Clay.  I'm pretty sure it is set in Australia, but it is never made clear. Anyways, this is wonderful, sad story of five brothers aged ten through eighteen who live together in a ramshackle house with their five pets.  The oldest Dunbar brother, Matthew, is the narrator. We learn all about the brothers through his eyes as he is writing a book about their lives. The Dunbar boys are left to fend for themselves after their father walks out on them. It's a crazy, sad, chaotic life but the brothers make it work. After their father, whom they refer to as "The Murderer" returns, their lives are forever changed. Clay, the fourth brother, decides to leave the family to help his father build a bridge. This book is so much more than this though. It's a saga in the sense that Matthew jumps back and forth  to tell the story of not only their immediate family, but also that of their grandparents. I did find this book hard to read. The writing style is strange. I can't explain it, but I can say that I stuck with it because I'm a Zusak fan AND I'M GLAD I DID. Sometimes books are like that. When I did finish the book, I loved it. It was worth the read. I loved some of the brothers and their struggle is real. I loved their mother and father and empathized with all of them. This 600 page story--7 mile run-- is worth your time. It's a story I'll never forget.