As I write this, the snow outside my window falls gently as if in a whisper. This is in stark contrast to the images I’ve seen of Buffalo during this past week. Snow, yes. A whisper, not quite. 7 feet actually – in three days. Parents stranded. Kids home alone. Roads closed. Cars buried. Roofs collapsing. Those in the area held in the grips of nature: wondering what’s to come. More snow… rain… melting… flooding?
All else forced to stop. Travel. Work. School. Football. Hockey. Everything, really. It all came down to basic survival. Stay home. Stay safe.
And though we here in Alberta claim to know blizzards, the extreme nature of this storm is something we really cannot relate to. It is a storm unlike any we have experienced.
The situation seems a perfect writing prompt to use with students. By sharing pictures and stimulating a discussion, creative narratives would most certainly follow. Try it… I dare you!