This has been a cold, snowy winter, thanks in part to a series of chilly blasts of arctic air forced south and across the US. An unusual phenomenon known as "polar vortex" directed the northern jet stream away from its normal pattern thanks to a high pressure system in northeastern Canada and a low pressure system in the western US. As a result, the Metro Detroit area just broke the mark for the snowiest January on record--previously set over 100 years ago, according to local news stations.
School was closed for all four of us on Tuesday, and for both of you on Wednesday (although your mother and I had to report to work). For the moment, we all work or learn at different schools. Allison is attending the American Montessori Academy, and Rebecca goes to the Child Development Center on the campus of Henry Ford Community College--where I teach--three days a week. Your mother works as a Reading Interventionist at the Detroit Service Learning Academy, a school that's only three miles away from our Redford home but technically in the city of Detroit because it's on the other side of Telegraph Road.
You girls love working on "projects," so I decided we would decorate the living room with construction paper icicles. I cut long, squiggly triangles from blue and white construction paper and set out an assortment of blue, light blue, and white crayons and markers. When we were done decorating the icicles with snowflakes, squiggly lines, and, in some cases, even faces, we taped them along the edge of the book case, fireplace mantle, and coffee table.
