Blizzard: Pathways

Blessed are the pathmakers

Neighborhood lore has it that the above pathway to the main street in town was made late last night by a man with a flight to Costa Rica today!  It has been quite a lifeline.  One neighbor made it to a convenience store and could report that no roads were plowed between here and there.  Another neighbor came home this afternoon, trudging up the path, after being stuck at work for three days.  And now there are several arteries joining it, from around the corner and up the street plus all the little avenues connecting people's driveways to it.  I dug our connection myself--the snow is light and the kids had tromped a path already; then our neighbor blew it wider and smoother for me.  Thus I spent all morning talking to friends and neighbors who, glad to get out of the house and into the sunshine, were walking back and forth on our little icy highway.  Sure, a few people forsook the path, having their own snowshoes and cross country skies, but most of us stuck to the path and congregated at intersections to chat and compare notes--how long would school be closed (two more days at least), was it true that town was out of diesel for the plows (apparently a FB rumor), how close was the nearest plowed street, and did the convenience store still have milk and eggs (no but they have Funyons!).  We even used the pathway to exchange milk, eggs, and onions!

The kids played nearby, digging ice caves in the snow (the man down the street had been an Army ranger and advised them on how to build an ice cave, leaving a lot of room at the top because this is crumbly snow) and sledding down our embankment into our driveway.  They later played chase and threw snowballs with friends through the pathways.  Now they've headed up the street via the path all the way to their babysitters to sled so more and maybe play Minecraft.  No worries about cars . . . or snow plows!  And it is so quiet with no traffic anywhere.  Just the sound of neighbors chatting up and down the snow paths.  

I know that the plows will come eventually, or more precisely the frontloaders, and will obliterate our little lifeline.  Sure, I'll be glad to know we can be reached by emergency vehicles and be able to get to stores and school eventually.  But for now, I like the snowy labyrinth of connections our neighbors have built.