Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Heather:
More signs of hope for the future.
We got hit with a snowstorm yesterday--about 6 inches. Not a tremendous amount, but for the winter's first snowfall it was a lot. The roads were a mess both to and from work; the sidestreets are still treacherous. It started early and didn't quit until almost dinnertime.
Where the hope for the future kicks in is here: around 5:30, while Dale was washing dishes so I could make dinner and I was checking papers for progress reports on Thursday, there was a knock at our front door. I opened it to a trio of young men. "Would you like your snow shoveled? Fifteen dollars for sidewalks, porch, driveway..."
As we don't have a driveway, but do have a deck, that was a compromise. The three went to work and did quite a good job. They didn't do just a shovel-wide on the sidewalk but the whole width. They did the deck and, since we live on a corner, all the way around to the neighbors'. I paid them after they were finished, another element of trust.
That happened last winter, too, when the local schools were closed for snow. The weekend after Halloween this year we were asked if we would let a group of about a half-dozen boys rake our leaves--for free.
We don't live in a neighborhood of spacious lots, half-million dollar homes, and Benzes in the driveway. Instead we have people on their porches summer evenings, lots of Christmas decorations, and boys who come around and shovel snow for a pittance.
True wealth really can't be measured in dollars.
More signs of hope for the future.
We got hit with a snowstorm yesterday--about 6 inches. Not a tremendous amount, but for the winter's first snowfall it was a lot. The roads were a mess both to and from work; the sidestreets are still treacherous. It started early and didn't quit until almost dinnertime.
Where the hope for the future kicks in is here: around 5:30, while Dale was washing dishes so I could make dinner and I was checking papers for progress reports on Thursday, there was a knock at our front door. I opened it to a trio of young men. "Would you like your snow shoveled? Fifteen dollars for sidewalks, porch, driveway..."
As we don't have a driveway, but do have a deck, that was a compromise. The three went to work and did quite a good job. They didn't do just a shovel-wide on the sidewalk but the whole width. They did the deck and, since we live on a corner, all the way around to the neighbors'. I paid them after they were finished, another element of trust.
That happened last winter, too, when the local schools were closed for snow. The weekend after Halloween this year we were asked if we would let a group of about a half-dozen boys rake our leaves--for free.
We don't live in a neighborhood of spacious lots, half-million dollar homes, and Benzes in the driveway. Instead we have people on their porches summer evenings, lots of Christmas decorations, and boys who come around and shovel snow for a pittance.
True wealth really can't be measured in dollars.
