Blake Harms is to snow days as Gordon Ramsay is to cooking. The well known expert, the one to trust. Science Instructor Kristina Graham told her class, “If Blake Harms says we have a high chance of a snow day, I won’t even set my alarm.” A recent Wednesday, his “New Prediction Alert” on Instagram read “moderate” for the following day. The comment section strictly from West Ottawa read the following:

   “Blake imma need the snowday for WO!!!”

   “We still love you”

   “I BEGGGGG WEST OTTAWA”

   “Don’t let me down Blake”

   “C’mon Blake! Wo!!”

   Due to the bombarding West Ottawans, Blake replied, “I’m sorry West Ottawa, I’m doing the best I can.”

   I mean we kind of stand out. Think it’s obvious we all desperately want one?

   You check the weather so much you may as well call yourself an expert.

   Ice cubes are down the toilet.

   Crayons are taped on the window.

   Spoons are under the pillows.

   Everyone’s private stories turn into snow day predictions.

   You join Blake Harms live hoping “VERY HIGH” is in bright red on his map.

   Your Chromebook may shut down due to how many times you have opened and closed the “Snow Day Calculator” page.

   You set your alarm for 6:30 a.m., hoping that you won’t need to listen to it.

   You wake up and drag your feet to look outside the window and see how tall the snow is compared to the chair outside the sliding glass door. You rush through your texts and go on Snapchat to see if there are any updates. “School Closings Today” is your next Google search, scrolling down to the W’s hoping to see West Ottawa.

   You feel like you’ve won the lottery. You feel like you just unwrapped the most perfect gift. You quickly go to Snapchat to make sure that everyone else knows that there is no school. Everyone’s stories turn into pictures of tired eyes with big smiles. “NO SCHOOL!” “SNOW DAY!” You wait a second to go back to sleep so you can feel all the excitement.

   An unrealistic schedule set for the morning.

   Snaps sent out to your group chat asking what the plan is for the day.

   Alarm set for 11:00 a.m. so you can finally get the sleep you’re very much deprived of.

   Waking up to your alarm and strangely the excitement is still there. The morning is not quiet like usual. White is the only thing you see outside the window and the room seems more lively. You take your time getting up because what’s the rush!? You walk around the house with a little extra pep in your step as you open your phone to everyone’s updates.

   You are getting emails from teachers but you don’t even bother checking them because you’ll worry about work when you actually go to school.

   The clock hits 2:43. “School is over,” you say in your head so you don’t sound nerdy. All of the sudden, the day doesn’t even seem fun anymore. You look back and wish you would’ve been more productive. “Well now this is like a normal school day.”

   You go to bed that night following your ritual snow day routine IF it’s supposed to snow all night. A part of you feels bad for how you spent that day but you know you’d probably spend tomorrow the exact same. Nothing beats those 7 hours at home when you would usually be getting hand cramps from writing and raising your hand to use the bathroom. I think we can all agree that snow is not our favorite, but if it snows enough to keep us home, then I better not even be able to step out my door.

   So, if you’re ever wondering if a snow day is cooking up for tomorrow, skip Ramsay and go straight to Harms.