How About That Weather?

I swear, the weather forecast for last week was: Weather forecast for the next 24 hours-- 

‘“Uh oh” amounts of rain followed/preceded by “oh crap” amounts of snow, resulting in “really, what did you expect would happen” flooding. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Your elevation may vary.”

We’ve had a LOT of weather lately—and it’s only mid-January. I am reminded that this is the perfect time of year to check in with our neighbors. I saw a post on Facebook recently, a 75-year-old-new-to-Packwood resident needed help with the snow—she needed both driveway plowing and a path way scooped for her puppies. Now, I don’t have a plow, but I can shovel a path for puppies, keep the mailboxes open, shovel a path to the woodshed, etc., pickup items for others when I am out and about. The latter assumes I can get out of my own driveway, however.

One of the things I love best about small town living is the neighbor helping neighbor thing. 

So please—when we have snow/flood/power outages/heat waves—please check on your neighbors. 

I think our hometown is a wonderful source for help—-and I encourage us all to reach out to those around us so they don’t *have* to ask for help. Because some times, asking is HARD.

I encourage us all to be forward thinking in our kindness, and help where we can. 

Good job out there to all those making life “easier“ when the weather gets “harder.” And on a personal note: thanks Neighbors Joe, Joe, and Dene for scooping out the plow-cade—that terrible berm of frozen snow that can form an impenetrable wall if not immediately addressed-- at the bottom of my drive.

 

You are much appreciated!  

NOvember

When my kids were in Preschool, Marilyn—the Best Pre-School Teacher Ever—taught them about each month with a clever little ditty. For November, it was “No flowers. No leaves. November.”   

I’m also old enough to remember that, back in the day, when we were offered something mood-altering we were supposed to JUST SAY NO. Now that November has arrived with all its moody, gray skies and volatile temperature changes, I seriously considering putting that advice to work.  

NO, I will say to November, no thanks. Take your waning daylight and your bare branches and skedaddle.  I’m not interested.  

No flowers? No leaves? No thanks! Let’s just skip right over the month of November—perhaps with a small pause on the final Thursday for some family, football and food, if we must—and then get right into the Season of Light.  

Let’s string lights, and light candles, and toss some glitter around—anything that will brighten the shorter days and shorten the long, long nights. 

I don’t care if you’re not into carols or candy canes, I don’t know anybody who doesn’t appreciate Christmas lights—provided you’re not asking them to actually string the lights from the eves and trees and assorted shrubberies, that is.  

So let me offer you this free piece of advice: if the darker days are dragging you down, don’t be bound by the calendar and conventional wisdom; go hang your Christmas lights up now. And by hang them up, I of course mean try to get somebody else to do it for you.   

And if they agree, please send me their name and I’ll go dig my lights out of storage and await their arrival.  

So November? I say just say NO and let it GLOW.