During any natural disaster or unusual natural occurrence, be it ice and snow in this case, a hurricane or even flooding, you always hope that you will be "okay" and won't find yourself in trouble or in a tough spot. Many drivers today had to venture out on the ice laden roadways to get to work or even to check on family elsewhere in the area. Although authorities called for a shut down of our 2 adjoining counties and their activities, people still found the need to go out and about. For us here, our roads are now pretty much cleared up. I took a short trip this morning about 7 a.m. to snap some photos of our little downtown area. I can pretty much guarantee that the events of this week will not be repeated in my lifetime, so the opportunity to document it was just too much to pass up. I made the trip to downtown, about 4 miles away, and was able to capture some of the first untouched areas of town. Our trees were all white with ice, icicles were hanging off of street signs, billboards and even our gazebos down at the Riverwalk. My outing went off without a hitch and i came home with a few good shots. Let me share a couple with you.
Our little town is nothing spectacular but on the quaint meter it would rank a solid 6-7. To most of the world, these pictures are far from impressive but to those who live here though, they are quite exceptional. This hasn't happened here to this extent in decades. Anyway, all throughout the past 2 days there have been people that the local news station highlighted as Good Samaritans. Over in Pensacola about 20 miles from us, there was one man who sat in his truck with a winch and tow strap at the top of a somewhat steep incline. Many many cars attempted to go down the slope and even come up the hill only to slide off of the roadway or just come to a halt right in the middle of it all. This great guy would hook to their vehicle and get them either off of the road out of harm's way or back on the straight and narrow and off on their way once again. He did this for several hours this morning and saved a lot of people from being in a pile up. Major thanks! Throughout the day there were other "heros" that the news team caught in action also. One man was from West Virginia. He was donned in nothing more than a tank top and shorts. When cars near him slid off of the road or became unable to gain traction, he would stop his truck, put on the flashers and go physically push people's vehicles back on steady ground or get them going again or even volunteer to drive their cars to get them going again. He saved a lot of lives today and made a whole city smile with his selfless generosity.
I was unable to get a picture of him in action myself, but again, another Good Samaritan. As all of our bridges on the interstate and those crossing the creeks and bayous remain closed tonight, maybe seeing this capture from our local news station about him will make you smile.
What a blessing!! The entire day was filled with persons just like this guy who went above and beyond making a positive difference. For us here at home the past 2 days, we have pretty much stayed close to home and enjoyed each other's company. I am a pretty creative person which means I often come up with things that the normal, everyday person won't do or even think of. My son and I were bored, he was bouncing off of the walls and my wife was just kind of shaking her head, so I thought what better way to pass some time than to do something to get his attention and burn some energy. I dug around and found my Halloween costume from last year and put it on. As soon as he saw me wearing it he had to immediately go find him. So here we are, both wearing costumes. Now what? Well, we decided to wrestle around a bit while mom took advantage of definitely unique photo opportunities. He wore his costume all yesterday afternoon and all day today! I guess this goes to show that a little creative thinking goes a long way.
Today as we watched the news and played outside we realized that even in the midst of all this crazy Florida weather, we could still have fun and pass the time with flair. Well, as we were sitting here this evening watching the news once again for updates on school closings, business shut downs etc. I thought I had better go outside and double check that our faucets were still flowing. Surprisingly I found one of our spigots not running. It had frozen solid already!! A little ingenuity and a little time spent and it was soon flowing again. We got little man into bed and settled in for another cold night here on the Gulf Coast and I sat down to write this post. Reflecting on the day and all that I have seen on the news channels, the things I witnessed today and on what lies ahead tomorrow, I can't help but count my blessings. This winter storm has been an inconvenience but it could have been and could still be, a lot worse. I see the northern states and those in the mid-west and wish them all the best in their, truly, disastrous winter weather. Well, my coffee cup is nearing emptiness and so am I. To wrap this post up, let me just affirm how important is to make the best of whatever life throws at you. Tomorrow is always another day and we have no real way of knowing just how different that coming day can be. As the sun rises tomorrow, look for the best in the day, and as Jerry Springer always says, "Take care of yourself, and each other."
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