Life on the Prairies with Prarie people

Saturday night was our 11th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated in flannel.  We've been recovering from the Holidays and I was fighting a cold and it was blizzarding outside.  Here's a short video Hugh took Saturday night. 

It really doesn't do justice to what it was like and you can't see the trampoline at the end because it's too dark but you get the idea. When that big ol' Prairie wind is combined with a whole lot of snow you get drifts.  Really, really, really big drifts.  The kind that buries the trampoline that the wind tossed across the yard like a rag doll.  The kind that strands vehicles in back lanes and in front of your house.  The kind you have to literally dig yourself out of.  Hugh did a whole lot of shoveling yesterday morning so he could get the van dug out and take the big kids to church.  (Sebastian and I hung out at home in our jammies.  The cold I was fighting Saturday took me down yesterday.)  Then later that night he went out with the kids again and dug out our sidewalks, the walk up to our house and all the snow that had built back up between our van and the road.

This morning I woke up feeling way better so I pulled on some workout clothes and went to go start the van.  I opened the front door and all I could see was snow, snow and more snow.  Gone was the walk up to our house.  Gone were our sidewalks.  Back was a huge mound of snow between our van and the road.  For a minute I thought I was living the movie Groundhog Day.  Didn't Hugh just shovel?  I dug out my Sorels got the van started and tried to plow through the huge hill of snow.  Now I'm sure this will come as a big surprise but try not to be too shocked, it's not good for the heart.  I got stuck.  High-centered to be exact.  Hugh came out and tried to push me out with no success.  And then we were surrounded.  Not one, not two, but three, trucks stopped to help. Three!

With all that help I was out in a trice (sorry, while I was sick I reread Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion) and on my way to Curves.  Several hours later I am still amazed at how many people busy with their own lives and their own errands and their own reasons for why it would be inconvenient to stop, stopped anyway.  To help out a stranger.  It challenged me. How often am I so caught up in my own life and my own concerns that I see a need and literally, or figuratively, just keep driving?

I'm not really sure where this post is going except I felt a sense of community, of pulling together, this morning and it touched my heart in a big way and I just wanted to share.  Also, Hugh has a whole lotta shoveling to do again today!