Schools across the US have shut down as a polar vortex casts a freezing spell over many countries in the northern hemisphere, virtually bringing life in many parts of the region to a virtual standstill. Offices have been shuttered, schools have been closed, and many basic services that one takes for granted have been suspended, including the US Postal services in some areas, despite their unofficially official motto of "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers". With parents trapped indoors with their kids, anything is a welcome distraction, including throwing pots of boiling water into the wind and seeing whether it becomes snow.