Early Spring?!?!??

Each of us is a being in himself and a being in society, each of us needs to understand himself and understand others, take care of others and be taken care of himself.

~Haniel Long

Just as he’s been doing every February 2 since 1887, Punxsutawney Phil once again poked his head out to calculate the end of winter. This time, as he has done only 15 times in his 124-year history of predicting, he didn’t see his shadow and signaled that spring is right around the corner. Either Mother Nature didn’t get that memo or was attempting a last hurrah.

Call it Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse or simply Blizzard 2011. Regardless of moniker, it amounted to a whole lotta snow. I distinctly remember the storm of 1978 to which this one was compared. Back then my sibs and I enjoyed a snow day in the winter wonderland. (Note to Mom: See if you can find those pictures!) This time around, however, I opted to spend my day off in the comfort of a warm, cozy house. Isn’t that why picture windows were invented? As a blogger and wanna-be photographer, I probably should have more purposefully documented the monumental event with a gazillion photos, but decided not to go overboard with the camera for two reasons. First, I don’t think pictures really do it justice. You don’t realize how much 18” of snow amounts to until you open the garage door and are confronted with a wall of knee-deep accumulation. Second, and more importantly, I was kinda enjoying aforementioned warm coziness inside and really wasn’t in the mood to trudge through all that cold fluffiness outside. You know how I feel about winter … even without a whole lotta snow.

By early afternoon, though, it had finally quit tumbling from the sky. My neighbors were out in full force clearing the aftermath. I figured I should probably follow suit and make an effort since my snowplow guy hadn’t shown his face or truck. In the time it took me to snap (count ’em) one picture and clear a mere shovel-wide path down the sidewalk from the porch, I was done. The snow wasn’t particularly heavy, but did I happen to mention there was a whole lotta it? And I was still recovering from the sledding incident. At the rate I was going, it would likely take me until June to reach the street. What’s a girl to do?

I’m a pretty independent woman and usually do things myself.  Fortunately, I’m also a pretty smart cookie and know when to cry, “Uncle!” (read: “Help!!!”).  This was one of those instances. When my neighbor John pulled up on his ATV accessorized with a plowing blade and offered his assistance, I didn’t think twice. It took him a good half hour, and wasn’t exactly neat and pretty when all was said and done, but at least my driveway was cleared and I was no longer snowbound. He refused my offer of gas money and said with a shrug, “That’s what neighbors are for.” Great guy!

The next morning my street still had not been plowed. You guessed it … I managed to get stuck at the end of my driveway. After a bit of drive-reverse-drive-reverse-drive-reverse-drive action (and a whole lotta swearing), I finally managed to position my car in the two-track leading out of my subdivision. I prayed I wouldn’t lose a muffler or other vital component as I listened to the snow scrape the underbelly of my car all the way to the main thoroughfare. Fortunately, after that it was smooth sailing to the office.  (In hindsight, not the best time of year to take on a temporary assignment.)

A quick call to other neighbors that afternoon confirmed our street had finally been plowed around 4 p.m. I wouldn’t be home until late evening and dreaded having to tackle what surely was now another mound of snow at the end of my driveway. Though I didn't really want to, I inquired if Don (a/k/a my lawn boy) would be able to clear it for me. Barb didn’t hesitate for a minute and told me it would only take him a few minutes. Needless to say, I was elated to arrive home that night and cruise right into the garage. More great people!

So what’s the point of this post? That I’m not fond of winter? That there’s a whole lotta snow during a blizzard? That I really need to hire a different snowplow service next year? Nope. What I’ll take away from Blizzard 2011 is that I live in a great neighborhood with wonderful people who don’t hesitate to pitch in, and that every now and then it’s okay to be taken care of.  Now the plan is to pay it forward … and realize I don’t have to wait for a crisis situation to do so.