Dear friends,
When there is a big snowstorm, and the roads are blocked, and everybody hasto dig a way from their house to the road, and try to free their completelysnow-covered car is when to meet your neighbours.
I wonder if it is the same in China? When there is some such trouble and
everybody is out trying to help themselves that's when the streets are
filled with friendly, helpful people and lots of cheery greetings and
often kindly acts to help the frail or elderly with their snow problems
That's the time when you really find out how good and pleasant many peopleare. It's too bad that it takes something like a big snowstorm to show itto us. Most of the time our streets where people live are very quiet.
People are in their houses, driving past in their cars, sitting in their
back gardens or on decks. We don't see our neighbours so very often anymore. It isn't like it was when I was a child. Then there were frontverandahs on every house, no matter how small it was. People used to sitout on their front verandahs. People used to walk past on their way to catchthe bus, or on their way to buy from the local drug store, grocery store, or candy store. The grassed front yards were not so deep so houses were closerto the main sidewalks. Children used to play outside after dinner until dusk.
Parents would come outside to call them for meals or bedtime. Enjoyed the coolof the evening from their front porches. Children walked to school and werenot continually being driven to school or to various activities. I walked toour dentist who practised from his home. I also walked to my elocution lessonsand my piano accordion lessons. I walked to the arena for public ice-skating.
I did a lot of walking and running. We don't have the same opportunity any
more to know our neighbours. This makes for mistrust.
I think that severe weather incidents from climate change will bring neighbourstogether again. Everybody will be in the same predicament and they will help and be available to each other. When there was a big power black-out in EasternCanada a couple of years the food in home freezers began to melt, so many people
held parties and barbeques in their yards where they invited all their neighbours and friends to come to eat the meat before it could spoil.
When I was a little girl there were also "street dances." Some streets would be
blocked off and there would be music and dancing. Anybody who wanted to couldcome and have fun dancing. All ages danced.
I have been thinking about how gloomy my long post was. What we will experiencefrom climate change won't only be gloomy. It will have many positive sides toit too, as people actually come to know each other again, and to help each other
and enjoy working to put things back in order again at the same time as their neighbours.
We certainly don't want to start looking forward to trouble so that we can
have the good parts. But there will be good parts, and we should never
despair. I want to write another root post about how we can make our own
little places of happiness, too. Although we are fated to be "living in "interesting times" it will also not be boring, and it will take effort toovercome, but it will have its joys. I also don't think trouble is going to
strike everywhere all at once. There will be some of this and some of that, here and there and everywhere. But probably with spells of relative calm inbetween. You are younger than I am so you will discover more about how it willall unfold and begin to work itself out than I will. But never despair. Difficult times bring out leadership and humanity is a pretty smart and has
the ability to solve problems and to adapt and is a wily sort of being, too. So
I think we will finally manage to bring things around and, in the long-run we'll manage to make this world a much better place than it is now.
Always try to look for the good in any situation and to keep a positive outlook.
Don't fool yourself. But don't ever give in to gloom. We have a
saying "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good." That means that the wind willcause trouble but it will benefit some. And so it goes in life. Right?
Affectionately, Marytimes" we
