In the 1960s all Boston area teenagers envied Beaver Country Day School in Newton, for the slightest accumulation of snow gifted them with a snow day, while the rest of us had to slog to school uphill and barefooted. My younger brother once theorized that the snowfall in Newton was heavier than the other towns along 128, because of its proximity to the Charles River. He was 8 years old at the time. I was not much older, so I bought into the vision of a permanent icecap over a single school. Global Warming belonged to a future century for the 60s.

This delusion melted upon a fellow Xaverian High School classmate saying that Beaver Country Day School was for intellectuals. His hometown was Needham. It was next to Newton.

“Intellectuals?” Senator Joe McCarthy had hunted down intellectuals as pinko commies.

“Smart kids.” My friend played freshman football. 1965′s varsity team had won the state title.

They were undefeated this year. “This school is for jocks.”

“Jocks?” I had won an academic scholarship and ran track. I was no jock, but my grades were shit.

“Yeah, like you and me, but don’t worry, we’ll never play football against Beaver Country Day.”
He was right.

Xaverian won the title that year. Our cross-country team was # 1. I finished in scoring position for the freshman squad. We had no snow days that year. Beaver Country Day had seven. In my mind they were the best school within the 128 Belt and I’ve always greeted a snow storm with the prospect of a ‘snow day’.

Today it snowed in New York.

No school were closed.

I went to work on 47th Street, but not before checking Google for the ‘Boston weather’ and ‘snow closings for schools’.

Beaver Country day was open.

Somehow that made going to work feel good.

Like Peter Pan said to Wendy, “I will never grow up.”

Me too.

Fuck Beaver Country Day School.

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https://www.mangozeen.com/2010/02/09/boston/snowbound-neer-do-well.htm