THE COMING OF SNOW. When we hear the very first rumors of snow flurries arriving we tend to pull in the dimensions of our wider summer time living. We begin to think about ways and means of warding off or, at least, weakening, the imaginary or real threats of the coming winter months.
Usually it becomes a rather routine preparation which we through by degrees
,we might dare say, and as readings go downward steadily on indoor and outdoor temperature gadgets, we start digging winter clothing out of storage and putting put our summery stuff away for a rest.
So, un-officially ,our local winter began as of today. We heard rumors early of six inches and ups in the edge of Western and throughout the TV day we saw New England changed into a fluffy white decoration as a welcome change from rain.
For us it will, again, be pretty much routine but this year the transformation will be filled with many serious problems stemming from the situation in which we from the situations in which we find ourselves to be involved.
First, we are a nation at war and that never helped to make any of our burdens any lighter. Then, fact that it is an unusual war, as wars go, with rather indefinite goals and fragmented leadership which does nothing to bring the phase to a close. Millions of families with members in the armed forces will see the coming winter with different feeling than ever before. The tragic scenes we have witnessed on TV concerning the lifestyle now allowable to millions of human beings in hurricane, flood, tornadoes, earthquake and fire. Think about that for a moment: have you ever know such a dire concentration of misery within so short a span of time? All of that,plus the ever-present threat of epidemic disease out breaks in any of the stricken areas
National and Regional leaders – at all levels – have been called on to face the largest challenge of their lives . Some have been judged to have failed; others have been said to have been successful, and a few have gained a measure of popularity among the common people they were called upon to serve. Just about all of our well-established relief agencies have been pushed to their absolute limits by this series of cataclysmic events. Much criticism has been leveled at each and every one of them and much of it was not always justified. The old adage holds true: until you have walked a mile in the other man's shoes you have no idea of the horrors which must be faced.
A.L.M. October 26, 2005 [c450wds]
