Bliss?

I miss shoveling. It is such a neighborly thing to do. In my old neighborhood, I would shovel my walk, then I would shovel my neighbor's because she was disabled, my other neighbor would bring over his snowblower and take care of the driveways and we all shared hot coffee and good conversation. Mind you, we would sometimes be out 3-4 times per storm to "keep up with it."

Now shoveling in my old town is a very serious matter. They print reminders of the rules for shoveling in the paper every year and most residents follow them. My fiancee and I were out for a walk last winter and noticed a particular system used by an elderly gentleman. He not only shoveled with precision, but actually pushed the snow back away from the edge of his sidewalk a good six inches-almost like firewall of sorts. My fiancee was rather impressed and also amused but how serious this guy was about shoveling...I found myself full of pride for my hometown. (And I reminded my fiancee that walking is sure a lot safer with shoveled walks).

I am now living in a subdivision outside of Chicago in an "exburb." Nobody shovels because they assume the snow will be gone in 48 hours. I cannot tell you how annoying it is to go for a walk. I am force to walk in the street-which if you know anything about inexperienced snow drivers-which is a dangerous path. I am praying for a heavy BIG snowstorm that would FORCE these people out of their cocoons.

It is such a reflection on the apathy of people these days. I mean, they move into a neighborhood and think that community will just happen, but they have no idea that it takes personal interaction to make a community have a soul.

How appealing is it to see this:

A driveway with only tire marks. An un-shoveled front walk and front porch and no sign of any activity between the drive and the front door. It says, "Leave me alone." "I do not welcome any visitors." "I don't care-it is somebody else's problem."

Basically they drive home, pull into the garage and then poof, they are "safe." They need not worry about anything else today. They are not meeting their neighbor halfway down the walk shoveling, finding out if Mr. Smith around the corner needs any help getting his driveway cleared or if he is even okay. Hell, they don't even know that Mr. Smith lives around the corner.

How do I live here?? I shovel like a crazy woman, go for lots of walks, say hello to everyone, wave as cars drive by, volunteer at the school, and keep on going.

I guess I am just homesick.