By Jay Jamison
Having mobility — a car that can get you from here to there in safety and comfort, the ability to walk out onto your yard or stroll down the street — all seem to help our peace of mind. It’s comforting to know that if I need an extra part for a project, or ingredient for a recipe, I can jump in the car and get what I need at almost any time. Many of us became aware of our reliance on mobility during the snowstorm last week. For several days, hopping in the car was not an option. I had to make do with whatever I had in the house. Major snowstorms do that.
Unlike other storms, snowstorms are often silent. The accumulation of snow silently mounts every hour. My usually busy street had no traffic during the snowfall. Like standing in an empty airport or train station, the lack of hustle and bustle, the lack of sound can make one uneasy. No sound, when under usual circumstances there always have been familiar noises, alerts you to the silence.
During all this, I saw a cartoon online that depicted St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, and a long line of men, holding snow shovels, waiting their turn at the desk. The caption has St. Peter, saying something like, “Not another overweight, middle-aged man, who attempted to shovel snow!” Now, I just turned 69 years old a few weeks ago, so I was determined to do only a minimum of shoveling, just enough for the mail carrier to get to my mailbox.
Snowfall can also bring good things out of hardship. Many years ago after a heavy snowfall, I was driving on one of the snow-covered streets in Jacksonville, when I came upon a bunch of men in the street. They were attempting to push a snowbound car out onto the plowed part of the street. I stopped, got out and helped. I didn’t know those guys and apparently, they didn’t know each other. They just pitched in and got a stranger back on the road. After a few “attaboy” back slaps, we all got into our separate cars and drove off. The snow emergency seemed to eliminate, momentarily, any social inhibitions we may have had.
Last week, after the snow stopped falling, I freed my car from the driveway. Later, I received a phone call from a lady from my church who said she had made a macaroni and cheese casserole that needed to be delivered to the warming center downtown, but she was snowed in. She had talked to her son on the phone, who doesn’t live in town, and apparently, he suggested she call some young guy in our church. She called me. At my age this was an opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up. The casserole was delivered, and her obligation was met. Now I can look in my bathroom mirror and say, “Hey, young guy.”
The next day I was fussing around my house and heard unusual sounds from out front. I glanced out the window and saw my neighbor walking back to his house with a snow shovel. My walk and porch steps had been properly cleared of snow.
Snow can bring hardships, but it can also bring out the best in some people.
