Whenever snow is forecast, we teachers feel the same excitement as our students. Snow day? Could it be? Today's forecast was a tricky one: maybe yes, maybe no. Another big storm for the south and east, not much headed our way. So as I gazed at my collection this morning, it took me a while to choose. I have a couple of pair of tried-and-true snow earrings. But with predictions of 1 to 3 inches, I opted for a pair that somehow seemed to me to wish for snow.

I almost didn't purchase these amazing recycled 16-pointed folded paper orbs at my favorite summer craft spot, Cook Forest PA's Sawmill Center for the Arts. I thought that they looked too big, and I worried that I would never wear them. Much as I admired the tiny origami, I didn't want to buy a pair that I would never wear. But when my daughter pointed out that they only cost $1, I decided to risk the purchase. They have been lying in a drawer for a few years, unworn. But today I think more people commented on my earrings than on any day in recent memory: students, colleagues, people I passed in the halls at school. My response, "I'm hoping they will help bring on the snow."

Hardly a flake fell all day. But just a few moments ago, my husband John announced, "The snow is really coming down!"  I only took them off long enough to take this photo. I'm still hoping.