= Slow Day! That's the kind of addition I love. An unexpected free day at home getting things done or sitting quietly reading, buried under the blanket of white just outside my window.
Living in Tokyo we don't get much snow. But just a few inches can cancel ladies' small group or send kids home early from school. Since most people don't have 4 wheel drive or even all weather tires, narrow congested roads come to a complete stop. Dependable trains too, are delayed or canceled. The mass of busy Tokyo-ites that depend on public transport suddenly find themselves at a stand still, literally. You may get where you want to go, but who knows if you'll be able to get back home.
A few weeks ago we woke up to a drizzling rain that turned into 6 inches of ice and snow by the afternoon. I thankfully caught the last train headed to where I need to go, but my friend got stuck waiting at bus stops and train stations all day. The boys were let out of school early to find they could only get part way home by train and then had to walk the rest of the way not appropriately dressed for the sudden winter storm.
Now living in Hokkaido, northern Japan was a different story. Even with its average snowfall of 20 feet a winter, we never had a snow day. Even if we woke up to 3 feet of snow on a Sunday morning, Tim dug our car out and then headed to church to shovel the parking lot...and then he preached!!! Everyone is used to the snow. Kids just don warm boots and snowsuits and walk to school. Adults shovel their winter tired 4 wheel drive out from under the nightfall's avalanche and drive where ever they need to go. Granted it may take twice as long to navigate the icy intersections and walls of white, but life goes on no matter what the winter weather forecast warns.
