snowballs, snowmen, and community

so it snowed.  i have all kinds of comments but apparently my mocking has struck a nerve ;) anyway.  whenever it has snowed and i've then gone to work; i've expected something. i've expected every kid, who is loving their free day from school to take some of that snow, wad it up into a spherical shape and then see if they can hit my moving golf-cart ride.  so this time...this time, i prepared myself.  i made snowball after snowball while i waited for the compactor to finish its job.  I would head out armed and prepared...

the utter joy that ensued was wonderful.  i loved watching these kids light up when i not only didn't yell at them for hitting my cart, but got out of the cart wielding my own ammunition.  i spent half of the day smiling and laughing as kids would chase me and my cart around the property seeing if they could get me.  the kids made snowmen, big ones, small ones.  they made snowballs.

you know, that story, it will never make the news.  stories of kids of 4-5 different ethnicities and cultures building snowmen in the middle of our park won't make any of the news sites or news shows.  Because those stories are reserved for the nice neighborhoods.  Stories from our neighborhood are usually reserved for tragedies.  Yeah, i went there.  I celebrate our neighborhood, I celebrate the fact that kids all over New Columbia in North Portland, played, laughed and were united together in joy and peace...playing.  Something small, I know, but there was a common language today.  A language of fun, of seeing what could be made with snow, of laughter.  In a small way, this was a moment of community building if there ever was.  I wish I could have stopped working and gathered all the kids from all over the property for an epic snowball war right in the middle of McCoy Park.  It was wonderful watching them today.  There was no fear, no worry.  They had a blast...and you know what...so did i.

i love my neighborhood.