With daylight savings pushing the clocks -forward- one hour this coming weekend, we can be certain that the pace of life will begin to pick up here in Newburyport.
Greater Newburyport has seen over 110.5 inches of snowfall (shattering the record that was set in the winter of 1995-96, which was 109.3 inches).
March may be coming in like a lion but compared to last month she feels like a lamb. Please stay that way.
Downtown businesses can begin to breath a collective “good riddance” to the snow banks and massive obstacles that kept people from coming out of their shelters this winter to shop, dine and socialize. The sun will melt them eventually and they will slowly ebb away as they do every winter.
It won’t be long before we can walk the boardwalk or downtown and we won’t need worry about slipping on ice! Our businesses will be glad to catch a break.
From where I sit at the Tannery, I for one will be SO glad to smell the fresh baked bread of Greta’s Great Grains; to go with my morning coffee at Chococoa.
They will now sell her breads on the premises in a wonderful new partnership. I may take my said bread and coffee and walk around town to just try and catch a glimpse of the Mighty Merrimack. Things that I have not seen over the seven foot snow banks since January.
With springtime headed our way, there is one thing that can be said for this difficult month of February here in town. If you didn’t get to know your neighbors this past month, you might never get do so. Which would be a sad thing.
If you were lucky, and kept your wits about you, this year you had a chance to get to know your neighbors like never before. Snowstorm after snowstorm forced us to either rely on each other or finally speak up (hopefully in a healthy way) about drifts coming over from their snowblowers.
During this winter of our discontent, I helped shovel out my 95-year old neighbor – about eleven or twelve times. I urged my other neighbor to get a bird feeder to keep the birds fed, as so many outdoor creatures were on the brink of starvation this season and could not get adequate food or find water.
Said neighbor had never taken any interest in the variety of birds we have in our backyards, and has slowly become a curious convert to bird watching.
I also met another neighbor who had a baby due in February. Each storm, each blizzard, and each frigid night the man of the family was out shoveling to ensure they could get out in case his wife went into labor.
Stuck neighbors blocked the street at times and he continuously offered to shovel. His strong back and friendliness were remarkable.
Whereas before February no one on the street knew him or his wife or that she was expecting a baby at any time, many of us in the neighborhood recently got to congratulate him on the birth of his daughter. We saw them come home from the hospital when we were – what else – out shoveling snow. If it weren’t for the snow, I would not have known any of these people before.
All over Newburyport, houses are dotted with one, or usually two shovels. One shovel for the big loads, one for the smaller pathways and it says a lot about the family. Some have four or five shovels, others just one. Everyone has been out, doing his or her bit. Along with shovels, we all now know those neighbors who came by with their snow blowers and helped us clear out.
While the early morning commuters greeted each other over defrosting cars, parents met on the chiseled out tunnel pathways en route to getting their kids into the car. Others bumped into each other with their dogs on early morning or evening walks, where our dogs limped along in the frozen landscape looking miserable.
We all looked and felt a bit disoriented by the massive amounts of snow, ice and changed landscape.
Once on the road, the driving was difficult, almost treacherous, as the snow banks were so high we could not see pedestrians or other vehicles. But, let’s face it; we helped somebody at some point during this terrible month. If we didn’t, someone helped us.
Now that we are easing into March (!) and slowly the snow will melt away, I think that this winter tested – and provided the opportunity for Newburyporters to prove themselves to be good neighbors. I for one feel gratitude for the help I received from neighbors who were once strangers.
So, getting through this winter of 2015 is our badge of honor. New England character. Any newbies who moves to the area now will have to meet the grizzled New Englanders we have all become. As neighbors, we may have to initiate them to how we roll. It should all have been documented for cable so they understand the red eyes and excess body hair.
I for one am glad to be here in a town that pulls together during the difficult times. Any of us who are Newburyporters – or who work here – can say that we got to know ourselves and our neighbors a bit better this winter. After all Easter Egg hunts are a month away. Spring never fails to arrive – either early or fashionably late for the Northeast.
I hope that as we get to know each other better through this column, you will extend a shovel over the snowbank to me as I will to you.
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