This week I received a distressing email from the Heritage Eagle Bend Board of Directors.
I've lived here twenty years, and I have never received such an email.
It arrived not too long after we began digging out
from one of our largest November snowstorms in decades.
It came in two waves, lasted three days, and dumped a good two feet of snow in HEB.
Snow and More Snow
Aurora, Colorado, USA
November 9, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
In the email the Board of Directors asked HEB residents
to "please consider exhibiting patience and understanding
for the employees who work long, difficult hours
to plow snow and keep our roads and sidewalks open."
Buried
Aurora, Colorado, USA
November 9, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Snow Keeps Piling Up
Aurora, Colorado, USA
November 9, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Remarking that "patience seemed to be in short supply,"
the HEB Board of Directors went on to say,
"Some residents chose to take out their frustrations with cursing, insults and other verbal abuse aimed at our snow removal employees."
This sickened me!
Winter after winter I have been privileged to live in HEB,
a retirement community for people over 55.
And over all these years, hardworking, usually Hispanic men have turned out
in the bitter cold and often at night to shovel us out and plow our streets.
How can people not appreciate their hard work under miserable conditions?
How can people not feel some compassion for them?
I don't usually take pictures of the men, because they are often working
when I am asleep or when I'm snuggled up in front of the fireplace downstairs.
Here are several I took during a bad spring snowstorm on March 14, 2021.
Aurora, Colorado, USA
March 14, 2021
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
We are living in a difficult time, when much that seemed certain is not.
Our country is divided, the world order feels unstable, the climate news is frightening,
and the specter of a world war looms larger than at any time I can remember.
I am just one small person, and I have no power or control
over the national and international events sweeping me in their tides.
Strong Waves
Panama City Beach, Florida, USA
April 9, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
What I do have is power and control over how I interact
with the people I come in contact with every day.
I do have the ability to choose to smile or to say a kind word.
I can feel respect, empathy, and most of all, compassion for them.
I am just one small person, but I can have a positive impact on others.
I'm a big believer in the power of many ordinary people
choosing to feel compassion for the people they meet daily.
My prescription for a difficult time is a strong dose of compassion.
I know I'm a work in progress, and I fall far short of the person I would like to be.
But I do try.
The world would be a better place if we all tried to treat others with more compassion.
Compassion is just one of a number of positive human traits we could choose to practice:
courtesy, kindness, respect, humility, caring, and empathy.
For an inspiring book on character, I highly recommend
The Road to Character by David Brooks.
I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date, Tom's Aloha Friday, and Nicole's Friday Face Off.
For Rain: Pizza ~ Our extended family gathers for pizza, beer, and music at Lazy Bear in Smith's Cove. The brewery is located on the property where our Grandmother (Cossaboom) MacDonald and her three sisters were born.
Pizza for Every Taste
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
August 2, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
For Tom: Aloha ~ The joy of hula and traditional music!
The Kilohana Hula Show at Kapiʻolani
Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i
February 26, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
For Nicole: Aloha ~ Crown Princess Kaʻiulani (1875–1899) was named Heir Apparent to the Kingdom of Hawaii on her 16th birthday. She died tragically of inflammatory rheumatism when she was 23. She fought for the rights of the Hawaiian people and was known for spreading aloha wherever she went.
Colorized Portrait of Crown Princess Kaʻiulani
Courtyard by Marriott
Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i
February 8, 2024
Photo by M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
Have a great weekend!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2024 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be
Friday, November 29th. 🤞
On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
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