Here's to all those snow blower super heroes

Not a stitch of snow...

Maybe there are guys or gals like him in your neighbourhood, too. You know, the ones who might be recently retired, and who also recently remembered the leaf blower/snow blower that hasn't seen enough use. And hey, now that they're retired, they have time to go out and clear those sidewalks of every last bit of snow, even as it's falling... and they seem to enjoy doing it!

I'll be the first to admit that it hasn't been our snowiest winter on record. I'm actually a bit worried about a dry spring. Even so, we've been happily watching our super snow blower man lately because not only are his own sidewalks completely clear of snow and ice, but he's been out with every dusting of snow, blowing off everyone else's walks, too. He clears his own driveway, the walks of his blind neighbour, and the newly widowed elderly lady who lives the next door down -- and then he keeps on going. On Saturday, when the snow was deepest, he blew a path down the middle of the sidewalks all the way around our little area park (past about twenty homes), and our neighbour, thinking the snow blower was done, cleaned up the edges in front of our two homes. That's when super snow blower guy came by a second time and obliterated the thin skiff that the shovel couldn't get! I guess his machine had more juice than he thought, and he just kept on going, leaving not a stitch of snow behind.

Several times of late, seeing and hearing him coming, I stood at the front window to wave my thanks, but he's a heads-down, hard-working super snow blower guy who is so focused on his work that he never looks up to see my gratitude (or maybe the snow gets in his eyes). So I stuck my head out the front door, but he was already moving on, the noise of the machine preventing my voice from reaching his ears. Of course, I know where my snow blower super hero lives, and I vow to leave him some of this year's first batch of fresh backyard berry jam when the time comes...

Here's to the super snow blower people, the neighbours who clear other people's walks, or brush off their cars, or pick up litter, or perform nearly unnoticed acts of kindness just because they can. You know who you are, and you deserve better than berry jam. Thanks for all you do!

Give a little love

I know I've posted this one before, but Noah and the Whale's song and this video are worth hearing/seeing more than once. We never know when a small action to help a stranger carries further than we think... Enjoy!

Video from KarmaTube

A Kindness Song for a Sunday

Here's a lovely little 5 minute music video by rapper-activist Nimo Patel. It came to me from KarmaTube (on the sidebar) and is his response to a kindness challenge that circled the world through www.kindspring.org. What I love about it is that it underlines the fact that we don't have to be overwhelmed by how much there is to do; we can all manage one small act at a time. This production has some wonderful faces, and some great lines... I won't say more than that as I'm sure you'll see for yourself. Enjoy!

Simple Suggestion #151... Give a little love

Someone special once gave me a card with this picture. Just a wee reminder on this St. Valentine's Day: love isn't love unless it's given away -- every day of the year!

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Simple Christmas idea #11 -- Be a secret angel

Do something kind...

My December calendar page quotes Hamilton Wright Mable, who says, "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a CONSPIRACY OF LOVE." That conspiracy of love is everywhere in the month of December. Even the collision repair shop and the car rental place we visited yesterday are part of the "do something kind" campaigns that fill the month of December. Have you noticed any yet?

A friend of mine was at the Oil Kings game the other night when they had their "Teddy Bear Toss." Three minutes into the game, the Oil Kings scored, and over ten thousand teddy bears flew out of the stands onto the ice for kids' Christmas charities. (My friend's wedding ring went flying, too, and the kindness of people searching with him in the stands below brought it back to him. Note to Casey: you might want to get it properly sized!) There are similar activities all over the place if we just look for them.

On a much smaller scale, every year at work, the admin team at L'Arche pulls names for a simple little secret gift exchange at Christmas. It's not the gifts that are so much fun -- it's the opportunity to do something nice for someone in secret. But the exercise of being a "secret angel" in December then begs the question: if I enjoy it so much, why don't I do secret acts of kindness all year round? Occasionally, this space feels like a random act of kindness when I'm able to share a happy little story to try to make the world a better place for people who might stumble across my moodlings.

Random acts of kindness can occur any day of the year. I love this little video of Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi's 22nd birthday in Islamabad, Pakistan. He decided to mark the day with 22 acts of kindness. A brilliant idea -- we don't need to be given gifts on special days as much as we need to express gratitude for the gift of life. And we can do that by being secret or not-so-secret angels for others.

The end of his movie says, "Let us be Kind" because basically, we only have each other. Especially during this Advent and Christmas, let us be kind, and carry it forward too, keeping in mind that any angels worth their wings emphasize kindness no matter the season!

Being Santa

Poor old Santa. He's one of the most misunderstood characters on the face of the planet. He started out as Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, Greece, a kind man who helped people in dire straits by giving them anonymous gifts. Over time, he became the favourite saint of sailors, merchants, thieves, archers, students, and children. Eventually, his name morphed from St. Nicholas to Sinterklaas in Holland, where his feast on December 6th is celebrated with gift giving. In 1823, Clement Moore turned him into the chubby character that climbs down chimneys in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and the rest is history. We see Santa everywhere these days, in every shopping mall, in all sorts of advertisements, and in blow up form on peoples' front lawns.

But here's a cheery little tune that kind of goes back to the heart of the actual man himself. If you read "historical" mythologies about the Saint of the sort you find on Wikipedia, he was a "random acts of kindness" sort of guy. An anonymous do-gooder. The kind of person we're all called to be. The happy little tune and message of this video make me smile. I hope they do the same for you!