A snow angel in Woodland Shores.

I know that nobody likes to hear their new neighbors talk about how they used to do things back in Texas, or California, or Timbuktu but y’all… we just can’t help it. This new place we’ve moved to, with its independence, and its freedom and its friendly welcomes, it’s just… disorienting. And we can’t help but compare the excellence of our new home to those places we’ve lived in previously.

And that’s why, as Marc and I were carefully crunching our way through out to the street to take photos of the snow this morning, my Houston-habituated mind was percolating on how we were most definitely snowbound and that it could be days, weeks, MONTHS before the thaw. Did we have enough provisions? What would we do without a fireplace if the power went out? My son is young, and strong, and healthy… should we send him on a trek by foot to Kahoot’s to scavenge? We could layer him in all of our jackets and coats while the rest of us huddle together under blankets for warmth until he returns… and then I heard a diesel engine approaching – in the distance, but definitely a big machine headed our way. My heart leapt as I turned toward the sound.

WE WERE SAVED!! It was John Venneman, y’all, in his big green tractor, shoving snow off the road, and I swear to goodness I saw a halo on that man’s head as he passed. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I got as giddy as a toddler perched high on her daddy’s shoulders, waving and giggling as the Independence Day parade passes by. Because John Venneman is an angel and we’re gonna be just fine.

What a relief! Super-huge thanks to John for looking after our neighborhood like this. Not once, in all of my years, have I seen neighbors step up for the community like y’all do here in Woodland Shores. Checking on neighbors, sharing firewood, repairing equipment, sharing meals. What you (and now we) have here is precious. It’s entirely uncommon. It’s wonderful.

I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Thank you, John, for making the roads of Woodland Shores passable. And thank you to everyone else who goes above and beyond for their neighbors — in the snow and all year ‘round. If you have seen someone doing what they can, when they can, to help our neighbors, please comment below or email me so I can post about the good that they’re doing.

It really is a grand life at The Shores.