We finally have our Winter weather. Earlier in the week the forecast actually indicated the possibility of snow from early Thursday morning all of the way through Tuesday of next week. While the snow did not come as soon as it was forecasted to it did come. And, it changed our world as we enjoyed it and had to live in it.

The week started with the playing of Super Bowl 55, an anti-climatic game that was not competitive and continued the downward fall of the half-time show. Even the commercials were not up to what we had come to enjoy. All in all, it was not something that we felt was worth watching all of and easily skipped many parts of. Then the next day ironically someone shared a timely quote that I have written down for continued reflection. Douglas G. Brinkley, a professor of history and author has said that “Most Americans didn’t distinguish fame from accomplishment.” How true is that? And just how timely is it that after this entertainment and sports spectacle I am reminded that many people around me cannot see that those they admire are simply famous but have not accomplished much, if anything.

Within 24 hours of seeing this quote I was faced with thinking deeply about someone that I admire, someone with real accomplishments. Someone that I learned was now fighting cancer as my loved one had. It brought back the thoughts of mortality, the fact that our years are not infinite and that we only have so many of them to accomplish what we should in our lifetime. You see this person is truly a compassionate and giving woman of God who has accomplished much. She is taking action to fight her cancer and she is doing it with her faith front and center. We are praying for her and her family. For the strength needed to move forward and the the strength needed to stand in her faith. She is now quite often on my mind.

By mid-week the time had come. My turn to sit down and get my second Covid vaccination shot. As with the first the clinician giving me my shot did an excellent job and I felt little discomfort. I followed up by moving my arm around regularly and avoiding sleeping on it and felt pretty good, for about 24 hours. Then I felt quite tired, really almost exhausted. I did my best to work through it, to live through it but to be honest I found myself needing more sleep than usual. I allowed myself to rest, to deal with getting this vaccination so that I can be as healthy as possible for myself, my family and others.

As I was resting overnight and dealing with feeling tired the temperatures fell and so did the snow. We woke to a bit of snow on the ground Friday morning and it gave the clean and pretty look of a white Winter. But the best part was that the snow continued to fall throughout the day and that it accumulated on the roofs, trees, shrubs and ground. By the late afternoon there were over 3 inches at home, a very good amount of snow where we live. It made for a pretty scene as we could listen to the kids in the neighborhood playing in the streets.

The snow continued to fall throughout Friday and into Saturday. I went into Winter shuttle service for our colleagues at work with several others. Not everyone has the ability to drive to work in conditions like we had and the public transportation shuts down when there is this much snow. Working in healthcare the doors never close, we are open 24 hours a day every day. We needed our people there to take care of our patients and the community so those of us able to started ferrying our colleagues from their homes to the hospital. Some of them even stayed overnight, or even for several nights, once they were on campus to ensure we could deliver the best care possible. Saturday was a long day and I saw a lot of unfortunate instances as I drove around the area. But I also got to meet some people face to face for the first time and help carry out the mission of our organization. I was able to contribute while seeing the beauty of the snow in our corner of the world.