A Moment

This winter has produced a lot of cabin fever.  We're all going a little crazy keeping track of the neighbors and talking back at the television.  The snow piles are still huge and travel isn't the best right now.

Someone passed me on Bourbon Street as I was leaving this morning.  It didn't matter there's a double yellow line, the road narrows to one lane in places, or that there was an oncoming car.   The oncoming driver and I just lifted our hands in an awkward acknowledgement of the situation.  I still didn't speed up, and noticed that the speeding driver took the right turn on a red light without stopping.  I hope wherever he was going was important.

Like many people I'm driving a little slower and more cautiously.  Intersections are challenging because of the snow piles.  I can't see and unless someone's in a cherry picker I can't imagine how anyone does.  So I'm getting used to getting beeped at.  Unless there's a fire or chocolate involved, I don't rush.

I heard some news lately that makes all these traffic woes really small potatoes.  There have been two bad weather related deaths recently.  One moment vital, lively people have been engaged in normal activities.  And within a moment, life ended.  Visiting friends and being outdoors isn't usually lethal but this month it was for two very good men.

Families are left behind to pick up the pieces.  The best person to ask for help and advice isn't there anymore.  Life goes on for those left behind, slower than before, feeling like sloughing through mud.

The one good thing that could come from this winter is that it should force us all to slow down.  We need to actually talk to our family and friends.  I've done a lot of baking, then sharing.  Life flies.  The belief that there's something beyond this world is up to each person.  But while we are here let's value this moment, this place, the people we're with.  

Because it's as all here one moment, the glorious world.

And then it's gone.

Purpose

Everyone in Massachusetts' agrees it's been a rough winter this year, 2014-2015.  It’s been hard to be enthusiastic about anything.  I'm sitting in a coffee shop this morning, attempting to get a jump start after working last night.  I had a shift at my local community college for the evening.

It was what we librarians call a bad technology night.  A college program didn't work the way it was supposed to and a student kept losing her work.  The office that could have answered her questions had gone home at 4pm.  Work stations decided to lose their handshakes with the printer so other students were playing musical chairs.  Another student didn't understand Roman numerals are letters and it doesn't matter if the letter has a serif or not.  Then she needed a Greek symbol in her word document and all I could do is hand her the brochure for the tutoring lab.

Never mind the students that had come to school without student IDs.  It was a trying night.  I stayed pleasant and kept remembering to smile.  I find smiling lifts my mood from outside to in.

Luckily a young man knew how to access Greek characters and helped out.  And that young woman was very grateful for the help we could give.  We're the last line of defense at night when all other support people have left for the day.

So yes, my circulation assistant and I earned our money last night and people did thank us as they left.  We made our small difference.

Imagine how extremely pleased I was to overhear a conversation as I am sipping my caramel latte and enjoying my Greek yogurt parfait.  A couple at the counter are evidently involved with a local town government and talking strategy to gain support for the town budget.  And one of the priorities they were emphasizing was their public library.  The man mentioned what a life line it had been for his wife the two years she had been home with their child.  She had made almost daily visits.  The woman mentioned the databases they could take advantage of without having to pay an individual subscription.  They mentioned all the activities and programs the library offered.  And they both laughed about the naysayers saying that there's no more need for books as everything is online.  They knew that isn't so.  Thankfully, the man understood that public libraries have regulations to meet in order to get funding.

I could have hugged them but kept control of myself.  It's nice to have my profession celebrated by civilians.  It made me feel all the tech support I had to give last night was worthwhile.  I've been involved with libraries since I was 14 years old.  While the profession has changed drastically in that time, it's still relevant.  It's rare to have a job where you feel you have a purpose and make a difference.  I've been blessed.