Neighborly Down Through The Years.

 Over the weekend we plunged into the -30 Celsius range, in Deedles (or Fahrenheit) that is about -23 F, at that temperature I can think of another word that begins with "f". The unusual part was we got walloped with a lot of snow and high winds that caused huge drifts. Mother nature was not sticking to her deal she made for winter. Usually the deep frigid weather is offset by clear sunny days. The air on freezing cold days is dry as a desert so it doesn't snow. That is until this past weekend.

 I ran into trouble because my old tractor has a senior citizens clause in her contract, she doesn't work below -16 Celsius. I warmed her, I begged, I pleaded but no, she refused to wake from her sleep. With temperatures dropping and still more freezing days to come, I had to call in the big boys.

 My neighbor has an excavating company, they also do some snow plowing. I called and even though they were swamped, he came in about half an hour to dig me out. With the right machine he was done in about thirty minutes. I appreciated him coming and paid him for the job. While standing there talking to him I realized something that speaks about living in a community where families go back generations. He is younger than me and I told him a story about when I was a child my father became ill with pneumonia, like this past weekend there was a huge snow storm and we were snowed in. One of the neighbors had a snow plow and came to open up our road, I remember it being such a relief for mom. That man who helped us out, would be this man's grandfather.

 It's part of country life, that circle of people who are around and are reliable, it helps people get by. I often think that is what is missing in the city, a community, it's how individuals fall through the cracks or feel alone while surrounded by people at the same time. It's sad to me that most people don't know what it's like to have good neighbours for generations.