“By our trust in the divine beauty in every person we develop that beauty in ourselves.”
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan
My ordinarily calm, cool composure was tested this morning when I tried to back the car into the street. What was simple to do on Friday suddenly proved impossible. For thirty minutes, my neighbors and I worked to move the car; forward, backward, we weren’t picky; we just needed the car to move. Unbeknownst to me, someone – the city, I came to learn later – had come through with a scraper overnight and piled the street’s snow along the sides. This, of course, included all the driveways that, until then, had been completely passable. In the eight years I’ve lived here, never once has this street been plowed. When we had the 14″ of snow last week we were left to our own devices like always before. That was okay. People actually manage, including me and my low-riding sporty car. So, why scrape now? Yesterday’s temps reached the mid-30’s, and today was mid-30’s with sun. The snow was melting. With snow in bouldered mountains, it became like cement. Shovels were useless. Dynamite would have worked better. Enter neighbor, Rick Helenburg.
Rick has a bad heart. He’s not able to do much that requires physical exertion. His ATV with snow blade is about the only way he’s able to help. That help isn’t always appreciated. He’s not entirely, shall we say ‘tidy’, with his snow removal, bless him, sometimes taking a bit of yard here, a chunk of driveway there. Earlier in the week he actually had a neighbor follow him home, cursing him all the way, for not being too tidy. When I approached Rick about helping me this morning, I had to reassure him that I wasn’t going to cuss him; I was going to pay him! As fine neighbors do, he refused to take any money. And while he was on my end of the street, he cleared a few other drives as well. People even stopped their cars to thank him. I’ve calmed down now, though I’m still scratching my head at the city’s rationale. Regardless, I am so grateful for my little neighborhood where I can help, and get help, from my neighbors. I am also reminded that I’ve got a lot of work to do. In the big picture, a blocked drive is really not that big of a deal. I’m grateful to have a driveway and a city willing to block it, even if it was a no good very bad idea.
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