Blizzard of Kindness

There's just nothing like a snowstorm. And last weekend, we had a doozy! Snowstorms like the one we had last week turn the world into an entirely new place. Sometimes, it makes you see people in an entirely new light, as well.

Take, for instance, me. Normally you would say I was a person of fairly good intelligence who is able to logically plan for and execute household tasks with relative ease. Enter the blizzard called Nemo. Friday found me driving around in the morning, looking for firewood to burn should the electricity go out. Note to self: the time to acquire Duraflame logs is not the day that the blizzard hits. I was like one of those people interviewed on the news who is apparently oblivious to all the warnings that have been broadcasting non-stop for the past 72 hours. "Oh. Well, when you said be prepared and get supplies, I didn't know you meant me." That's okay. I had plenty of candles and batteries.

Shoveling snow isn't a bad way to pass an afternoon, provided you have nowhere to be. I despise getting up early to shovel out the car before work on a weekday morning. But when there is a driving ban in effect and nothing is open anyway, shoveling is actually quite pleasant. Plus, when all your neighbors are out there, too, and you all join in together to lift the fallen tree branches up and out of the parking lot, well it's kind of like an Amish barn raising, isn't it? Weird how normally in the winter months, neighbors get nothing more than a smile and a wave until a couple feet of snow enter the picture. Then you are all part of a community.

I was at least lucky. My fire-less, power-less existence lasted only two days. Some people are still without power! Those folks are generally on the outskirts of the grid, meaning that many have well water, not town water. So the very people who need power more than anyone else, since they don't have any running water, are the last to get it back. But when a couple feet of snow enter the picture, then you are all part of a community. I'm happy to say that all of my friends and co-workers who found themselves on the end of the grid were accounted for and staying with family or neighbors in warm, lighted houses. (One co-worker even said that her neighbor from two streets over made her lunch every day before she left for work! "Did she write a note with a smiley face on the napkin?" we all asked her.) Snow will do that.

Then there was Valentines's Day. I stopped at the gas station on the way to work and saw that there were 8 or 9 work trucks gassing up. When I went in the store, it was an absolute love fest in there! People were clapping the electrical workers on the shoulder, buying them coffee and donuts, and thanking them over and over. It was nice. Normally, people don't give a second thought to the people who make sure the lights and water are working. This day, everyone was acknowledging and giving little gifts of appreciation to the people who restored the power...you know, just in time for the next snowstorm to hit this weekend!

Yep, there's just nothing like a snow storm.