Its been snowy this week here in Ann Arbor … its beginning to look (and feel) a lot like Fargo. Mondays snow was heavy and deep 10 inches worth. I shoveled a little, took a break, shoveled some more, took a break. Howard, my next door neighbor has a snow blower. He did about 15 feet of my sidewalk for me and quit. Maybe the snow was too heavy for the snow blower … or maybe he ran out of time … even so, I appreciate his kindness and the fact that there’s just that much less for me to have to shovel.
Monday night I made a pan of brownies and put four of them on a plate for Howard and his wife, Jane, and six of them on a plate for Kim, Phil and Jon, the across the street neighbors. Ive wanted to do this kind of thing since I visited my mom and dad in September. They are always cooking up something (usually baking) and distributing it to the neighbors. Howard answered the door and his face just lit up when I said I baked some brownies and just wanted to say thanks for being a good neighbor. After more snow on Wednesday night I tromped out to shovel Thursday morning and found that my ENTIRE sidewalk was clear. Howard got his snowblower out and did the whole thing for me. Now that is the Power or Brownies! Im going to make Apple Cake (new recipe) this weekend and take him some.
It is incredible how a little appreciation goes a long way. I have a similar story with one of my neighbors, and took them bagels and cream cheese as a thank you. I think it makes everyone feel good about the exchange – the one doing the kind thing and the one showing some appreciation.