(OT) As we brace for snowy weather....

[Jerry McBride]

So much is "going good" today...

On the east coast of the USA, people everywhere are bracing for a winter storm 
of epic proportions. Weather men and women are predicting upwards of 14 
inches of snow for our area and... well... that's a lot for central New 
Jersey, where I live.

I watched from our front porch today, as several of my neighbors splitting and 
dividing up a huge pile of old hardwood. What was once three truck loads of 
rough cut logs is now many orderly piles of cut, split and stacked wood. Some 
destined to stay with the neighbor where the work was done, most of it to be 
shuttled off to neighbors that helped split the wood and work. There's a 
feeling in the air today, fresh and clean. We all felt it. We all recognized 
it... We were friendlier, a tighter group than normal. It was easy to talk, 
poke fun at and be the brunt of humor and teasing. It was a lot more than 
just the weather too. It was neighbor helping neighbor and we're going to get 
through this one too...

The organizer of the "woodsman activities" is man named Dwight. Single, in his 
late thirties and quiet as the day is long. Most everyone that has met him 
would remember him as peculiar, eccentric, perhaps even a bit odd. All would 
agree, just a nice guy and fun to be around. Typical of what you would expect 
from a "Big Gentle Ben" type. Shakeing his hand is a lot like putting yours 
into a baseball glove.

What I know of him most, he takes good care of his neighbors. No one will be 
cold tonight. And when the snow is the deepest, perhaps at midnight, he'll be 
out there running his snowblower, keeping drive ways and walk ways clear for 
the elderly that live here. He does his side of the street, I'll do mine. And 
I've learned not to turn my back on Dwight, lest an errant snowball comes my 
way...

On our street, as snow flakes begin to fall, there's a swirl of smoke from 
some chimneys and if you strain just a bit, a refrain or two of Dierks 
Bentley singing "gonna get there someday" can be heard. In another hour or 
two the snow will begin to collect and childern will begin to play in mass. 
And the real fun will begin.

Good things are happening today. Maybe, just maybe, the rest of the world has 
finally gone away.

Cheers to all. Enjoy your neighbors.

Jerry McBride and family.