Monday, January 25, 2016

Community Outreach

As predicted, there was a lot of snow.  My guess is that the area outside of my apartment got a little over two feet of snow.  I was safe in my apartment and I never lost power or access to water.  Due to the extreme amount of snow in such a sort period of time, church was cancelled.

Sunday afternoon, I ventured out to take a look at the snow around my car.  It was packed in deep and I didn't have a shovel.  (I found out on Thursday evening that the maintenance crew of my apartment would plow the roads and driving sections of the parking lots, but they would not unbury our cars.  I tried to find a store still selling snow shovels, but they had already been picked over by the time I arrived.)  I went outside ready to use a snow scraper as best as I could, when I saw that the whole building was outside shoveling.  I went back in and grabbed some cookies I had baked the night before -- not with anything in mind for them, I was just bored -- and offered them to my neighbors.  Almost immediately, someone lent me a shovel.

I worked on the snow for about two hours, but eventually gave up with my car still trapped.  The reason?  I have the option to work from home today (of which I'm taking advantage) while many of my neighbors don't.  If I were to completely liberate my car, I'd almost certainly cover someone else's car or at least block their way out.  I decided to walk away and save my back.  Plus, the forecast calls for rain on Tuesday, which may take care of the problem for me.

The best part of this situation was that I had the chance to be a part of a community.  I don't make a point to talk to my neighbors, but it was nice to see that the kindness I showed was quickly reciprocated.

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