Thursday, January 03, 2008

The Good Neighbour



I know, ya gotta wonder how many snow and snow-shovelling related blogs I can come up with. But please bear will because it's winter here: quite a winter after the past few milder years. In case you doubt, by way of contrast I have pictures such as this one from mid-January last year which reveal almost no snow. And since I can't recall seeing an accumulation such as this since I was a boy in Montreal, surely I can be forgiven my present obsession?

Anyway, this really isn't about snow per se; it's about The Good Neighbour who lives across the street. I have mentioned her more than once and already presented you with a picture, but here she is again (below).



I guess you can tell by looking at her beyond-rosy cheeks that it was quite cold that day, but she still came over to blow our driveway out. She doesn't confine herself to performing this good deed to us but goes up and down the street cheerfully helping many. When someone asked her if she was making a lot of money doing this, she replied that she wasn't but that she was making a lot of friends.

What a great and refreshing attitude!

I wish more people had it — Good Neighbour's fantastic attitude. Of course, some do, but can't display it so obviously. For example: it was just a few years ago that I did my bit by frequently shovelling-out our neighbour's place in Sarnia and sometimes two neighbours. But these days, to keep Cuppa's worry-level at minimum, I confine myself to my own driveway. And because of Good Neighbour, I don't always even have to do that. By contrast, after our first big storm, there was another neighbour (and I use the word loosely) who plowed his lot with a plow attached to a riding lawnmower, which must make it easier than blowing, don't you think? But you know what? He just did his own place and went back inside without glancing to the right or left. I wonder how much joy he gets out of life?

While I never expect Good Neighbour to clear my snow and while I can enjoy shovelling my own moderate amounts, I am always appreciative of her good deeds. It's not just that it saves me some labour (although there is that), but it gives me a warm feeling about my fellow humans. And I am becoming rather fond of experiencing warm feelings in the midst of a cold winter.

13 comments:

Rhea said...

I love Good Neighbor and others like her! Yay!

ChrisB said...

It's so hard to imagine having to shift that much snow as we so rarely get more than a sprinkling. You really do have a good neighbour with a wonderful attitude. As for the other guy~ well he's not making any attempt to enrich his life by doing a few good deeds.

Heather Plett said...

I like her. Makes me wanna go out and find some way to spread the kindness.

Anonymous said...

Snow??? What's that??
Happy New Year to you!

Norma said...

We had a snow like that in the late 70s. At first it's fun--then there's no place to put it. What a nice neighbor. Be careful of your back!

Today I blogged about 4 million Canadians. Let me know if you're one of them.

Catherine said...

Its a nastier than normal winter here too. That IS a Good Neighbor. What a blessing.

Donna said...

What a terribly sweet woman to do such a thing!!! You must be a very kind couple of people to her as well!! How wonderful...

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

It looks like you have more snow there than we have here. Hold on it looks like it will rain next week with temperatures in the double digits.

We should not get Winter rain here. Does this indicate changing climate.???

Does your snow angel with the blower do windows?

Kila said...

We've certainly had a lot of snow here in Wisconsin!

Yesterday I looked at a photo from New Year's Day of last year, and was shocked to see that we didn't have any snow. Quite a different story this year!

Happy New Year to you!

Maya's Granny said...

We had snow like that last year, but so far this year we don't. There is just a little on the ground at my elevation at the moment, left over from Christmas. I can't do my own, and I have two neighbors who do it for me.

I added an update to the Tiger Attack post:

Anvilcloud commented that " Some males of a certain age can be most obnoxious." Which reminds me that I read that 98% of rattlesnake bites that come into ERs are on the hand of a drunk male between 19 and 27. And there are two bites. So drunk they try to pick up a rattlesnake. Twice.

P.S. I miss Cuppa blogging. Is she too busy? Tell her we miss her.

Pam said...

It looks like "real" winter is back with a vengeance. I am happy to say that my husband is a good neighbor and I tried to do my share when I could. It's so much more fun that way.

Donna said...

Jan 4th....LOVE the new diggs!! It's snowing!!!! Stay warm tonight!

Anonymous said...

The thing about these "warm feelings" is that they often lead to action causing more warm feelings and so on and so forth. :-)