Day 6 of 365 (Act of Kindness)

Garrison Keillor back in the day was not the parody of himself that he has become. I used to listen to a Prairie Home Companion almost religiously. In the old days when he did not interject his voice into almost every song by every guest artist and when he danced deftly around the libidinous issues of the Lutherans of Lake Woebegon Mr. Keillor would often tell stories about life in the cold back before cellphone and the internet. 

 Those tales he told focused on how things would happen that would move the initial contact between two parts of a couple together. The scene would be a big snow storm. The lads would of the town have shoveled off the pond over at the Gunderson’s farm. A large fire would be built and some crates would have been set down at the ice’s edge for seating. Invariably a teen girl and teen boy would be sitting at either end of a row of crates and as the evening would pass they would share a blanket for warmth and eventually they would be holding hands. Forty years would pass and they would still be married. 

 Mr. Keillor would also talk about storm homes. These were places that when the weather got too rough on the way home from grade school you could go to seek shelter. He would talk about what his mental image of a storm home would be and all the things that would be there making the place welcoming and safe. He would say that in the world we live in sometimes he wished he still had a storm home. 

 One recurring theme would be that the cold harsh winters of Minnesota made people take responsibility for their neighbors. Michigan is not as harsh as Minnesota but we do have a similar code here. If you are in trouble there may come only one person who has a chance to help you. 

 Last night we had a big storm, 14 inches of snow. Today it got cold. It is about 0 F out there and the wind is kicking up. My office closed, my wife’s office closed and all the schools in the area closed. I am not in a shape that I could have shoveled all the snow that fell on my drive this morning, not safely, and not sanely.

 Luckily the university was also closed and I kept the Moose home. My plan was that given the 30- wind chills I would put him in a mask, gloves and send him out for 10 minute stretches all day until we got the drive clear. We had gone through four cycles of this and Moose had gotten about a quarter of the work done. 

 I was just getting ready to go get him for another round (you don’t think he was doing this voluntarily did you) I heard a humming/ buzzing sound out front. My neighbor Patrick was out in front of my house with his snow blower just firing away at the sidewalk and drive. I didn’t ask him. He just did it. I went out and thanked him. He just kind of shrugged it off. There will be a pecan rum cake in that man’s future. It was a kindness. It was part of the code.

 

At times my thoughts about what humanity is coming to turn dark. On those days I am left to wonder what has become of the spirit of selflessness, of care and of concern for those around us. All it takes is one small act and that belief that there is hope comes back.