Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Yesterday’s storm brought me back to February 5, 1978, the worst snowstorm that I had witnessed in my 27 years. I was working at the time as Director of a group home in West Warwick for people living with mental illnesses. Just three days earlier, I had canceled our snowplowing contract because we had already exceeded our season budget. Talk about timing! How could I then call the company up and ask them to come back so soon, so we all shoveled the driveway out. But the funny thing was that no one complained, and we had a grand old time of it. Oh, we got the driveway cleared, but we also hit each other with snowballs and made snow sculptures on the front lawn. Side streets were not plowed for a week or two, so folks would take their sleds to the local convenience store to buy bread, milk, and whatever else they felt they needed until things returned to normal. They would wave and sometimes stop to chat for a bit as they passed by. It brought the community together.

As I stood outside yesterday in the storm, cleaning the drifts away from my outdoor heating vent, I marveled at the pristine landscape and how peaceful everything seemed, except for the sound of the wind. One of our neighbors sent us an email reminding us to go out and check that the vents were clear. I thanked her for her concern in alerting us, and soon others were, too. It wasn’t quite the same as 1978, but it was a great feeling knowing that we were looking out for one another. It won’t take us as long to get back to “normal” this time around. But maybe occasionally Mother Nature delivers up one of these storms that stop us in our tracks to remind us of how important the people around us are, and I am truly grateful to Mother Nature for that!