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Oh, I know: Your drifts are bigger than our drifts, and all that. Our friends in Green Bay won’t be impressed, but we’ve been having some weather here this week. Tuesday morning it was nearly 50 degrees. That afternoon I got caught in tropical rain, lightning, thunder, severe flooding. At dinnertime, a tornado watch. By 11 p.m., when I was sitting up blogging, there was a straight wind of 37 miles per hour, gusting to 52, that rattled the windows alarmingly, and it was 10 degrees outside before wind chill. (Inside, it was a cozy 15.)
Last night we got a foot of snow. Every courtroom, daycare, school, and college in six counties is closed—except Hinterland University. The administration seems to make it a point of pride never to close. Last winter a blizzard did close campus, but it was the first time in a quarter-century.
It’s a big job to keep things running. As the storm approached, an e-mail from the head of Maintenance explained, “The Maintenance Division is responsible for providing snow and ice removal on 23 miles of roadway, 130 parking lots with 16,000 spaces, 80 miles of sidewalk, 6 miles of bike lane and over two hundred and fifty buildings on 1400 acres. Snow removal after a major storm event, especially when high winds are involved, can be daunting and time consuming. Final completion of the effort can take several days.”
This seemed to hint at closure, but this morning, a terse message from the Chancellor: “Classes WILL be held.”
Our administrators are tougher than your administrators.
