Published on: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By Brian J. Karem

A friend of mine from New Mexico posted on his Facebook account how he wished the weather would change because he's tired of seeing it rain.

I rarely comment on these posts. If you're on Facebook then you know that it is filled with endless, often dreary, expositions on the minutest details of lives most of us would rather not lead.

To recap; I don't care if you've had your morning coffee, or if the sun is shining in your face, or if you'd had so much to drink your sponsor at AA believes you will soon drop dead of alcohol poisoning.

But as I waded through my backyard filled with snow, which is now right up under my armpits, I felt it necessary to hop on the computer and respond to my friend.

I simply told him I'd rather have the rain and I'd gladly ship him the five feet of snow now piled up in my backyard.

Wouldn't you know it, some twit then posted something to the effect of, "Yeah, it's snowing here. We got an inch of snow."

An inch. Are you kidding me?

Then it dawned on me, most human beings cannot fathom, really fathom how much five feet of snow actually is.

I myself, until I saw it, couldn't realistically understand how much it weighs, how much room it takes up and how much it can disrupt your life.

The ski resorts are screaming they've got snow, but I don't know how anyone is going to take advantage of it. The streets are filled with the stuff.

There's no place to put it.

People are screaming about the need to clear the roads, but clearly no one in this state has ever had to deal with this much snow at one time - not at least in the recent past.

I'm sure we had this much during the Pliocene Ice Age, but certainly not during my lifetime.

So, I finally got over my aggravation with those who don't understand what it is we're suffering from in Montgomery County, and instead turned my attention to the things that matter most.

I haven't been stranded one day during this wintry blast. I have helped pull snowplows out of snowdrifts and given rides to those who need to get places.

My neighbor, who owns a four-wheel drive vehicle as I do, has volunteered to drive doctors back and forth from the local hospital.

Other four-wheel drivers in the area have also pitched in, giving help where they can and providing some relief to those suffering during this blizzard.

My next-door neighbor has her brother and his family staying with her because her brother's power has been out since last weekend.

So, while the outside world thinks it is an exaggeration to say we have five feet of snow in our backyard (if anything this is an under estimation if you take into account those drifts that are - in some cases - more than 10-feet deep) we have shrugged our shoulders, moved on and helped each other out.

It's refreshing - though the griping about the county's inability to clear the roads is a little disconcerting.

For the record, I don't see how they can be expected to do much better than they have considering the lack of money in the budget, the amount of snow falling, the number of people we have to do the work, the amount of equipment we have, the number of miles that need to be cleared and how often a snow of this size hits us.

But, other than that, I do think the blanket of snow has brought out the best in all of us.

There's no bickering about health care, red states, blue states, conservative or liberal. There's no caring about race, creed or color.

Are you safe? Do you need help? How can I help you?

Refreshing isn't it?

And here's something I thought I'd never say in my lifetime: Boys would you please quit skiing off the roof?

Oh yeah, and while you’re at it, please shovel out the walk, the drive way and while you’re at it, keep going up the street, around the block and all the way to the Safeway.

Thanks. Knew you could do it