Two weeks ago, 60 million people in America found themselves in the path of a brutal blizzard. Half a million homes were knocked out of power on the East Coast, and more than 2 feet of snow fell in Massachusetts – our home state.
My husband and I live on a street surrounded by tall trees and cottage-style houses. We heard the dire weather forecast of what eventually came. But we don’t always believe what we hear, of course. We use our personal radar to detect how we may be affected – how we should prepare, respond, or change course with our plans for the day.
On day one of the first Nor’easter, we heard howling winds whipping our trees in the backyard at the same time the doomsday scenario was blasting on our TV screen, warning us to stay off the road, to stay at home or to charge up our phones. My husband was repeating those safety advice to me while noticing how calm our surroundings seemed to be – “Well, the storm is not as bad as they say.”
“Well, we don’t know yet. It’s still early. We’re quite sheltered in this quiet neighborhood, but we have no idea how other areas are affected and how other people deal. ” I quickly quipped.
Of course, over the course of the next 24 hours, everything changed. Rain turned to snow, snow turn into a blizzard. And before we knew it, our street turned into scattered snowy slopes, burying cars and blocking foot traffic.
One morning, I found myself stuck between a foot of snow and a home of heat. Should I or shouldn’t I go to yoga this morning? It was 6:42 am. My class was at 7 a.m. Snow is still falling on my head. On a normal day, I could get to the studio by 6:55 including stopping by a cafe nearby to first get a cup of coffee. Now, it’ll take me at least half an hour to dig out. My husband started coming down the stairs to the door, trying to convince me to stay home – “You can skip a day and practice yoga at home.” He pleaded. He was right, I could. But I said, “No, I’ll call Uber.” He knew I was determined but perhaps not sure why so resolute. Here’s why.
Within 5 minutes, I saw the car coming slowly to our front door. The minute I saw the driver, I saw focus. He was driving for a living and it didn’t matter whether it was rain or snow. His eyes talked with his movement to help me get my bags in his cab. He was selfless but mindful of my needs as a customer. I was instantly inspired. At that time in the morning when no single soul was seen around us, except the driver and I. I felt an instant bond with someone with a job to do. Soon, I started to notice more and more people fighting strong winds and snow on the way to work while carrying heavy backpacks, slugging luggage on wheels, and even holding a cup or a tray of coffee in hand!
What inspired me watching all of this is life goes on. People who have a job to do focus on what it takes to get to where they need to go. Of course, if no public service workers were out with their snowplows and heavy trucks to clear the roads, none of us who could go anywhere.
I finally got to my yoga studio with only the front desk receptionist, huddling under a heavy blanket. Heat’s knocked out. She was freezing. Teacher was out. But she was still smiling with her warm personality. I offered her a cup of coffee before asking if I could practice alone in the frigid studio. Yes! She exclaimed. We bonded over a hot cup of coffee through the storm even as we were the lone soldiers sticking to our guns.