The Observation Deck

IT looks like the snow has tapered off and will soon stop, but it is heavy and temperatures are falling be safe.

One shovel wide makes a huge difference, but do not over do it. Snow removal is not worth dying over!

So Hire a neighbor kid, call a friend, help your neighbors, but be safe!


City crews cleaning streets last night, all night.

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Jim O'Bryan wrote:IT looks like the snow has tapered off and will soon stop, but it is heavy and temperatures are falling be safe.

One shovel wide makes a huge difference, but do not over do it. Snow removal is not worth dying over!

So Hire a neighbor kid, call a friend, help your neighbors, but be safe!


City crews cleaning streets last night, all night.

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I bet Gary Rice was very proud of our city by 4pm yesterday, I know I was!



By 4pm, most residents of Lakewood had gotten at least "one shovel wide" done of their sidewalks, and as I drove around I saw many neighbors laughing and working together to clear their walks and drives and the walks and drives of others in the neighborhood.

Especially helpful, were those with snow blowers cutting paths while neighbors helped to clean up the edges.

Always nice seeing the community working together and the residents out working, laughing and having fun.

Be safe.

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Thanks Jim, and you are so right!

I was VERY happy to see Lakewood's walkways get cleared so quickly yesterday.

Hard to believe that it was three years ago this week that Dad died.

Just sitting here quietly reflecting, and then, this perky little song pops back up to cheer me and everyone up again!

Yes, it was three years ago THIS WEEK, Dad and I were sitting in the breakfast room, and we finished up writing this song, inspired by a shoveling Lakewood mother who just wanted all the kids on our street to be safe.

We would then go out for lunch, return home, and Dad would go upstairs for his nap, and then suddenly pass away.

It would be our last song together.

Dad and Mom wrote popular songs during and after WWII. They were quite a team. As I was growing up, they taught me so much about music and songwriting. After Mom passed away, I bought Dad a music writing program. He learned to use the computer and we worked together on band marches for Lakewood's schools and other projects as well. Our most widely recognized musical project was "The American Veterans Last Salute March" that was performed by the American Festival Pops Orchestra on the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, with Dad conducting, and me performing on the Civil War battle drum. Dad had served in the U.S. Army band in WWII, and was a Lakewood music teacher from 1958-1983.

We actually received Congressional Recognition for writing that march, and for our service to Lakewood. You can view that here, if you'd like:

https://www.congress.gov/congressional- ... le/E1945-5

I mention this, not in ANY way to seek further publicity, more pats on the back, or recognition, but rather to amplify how EACH of us, everyday, in the VERY limited time allotted to us in life, have the opportunity to make choices that can positively impact the rest of us. Those choices can help to make a better world for everyone, and a better Lakewood too!

It is so easy to look at things from the outside and tear stuff down. It is much more difficult to pitch in, lend a hand, and build. It takes so much longer to build than to destroy, but it is worth it.

As with that lady and her little shovel, good deeds ripple out like the waves from that proverbial pebble that splashes into the quiet waters of a pond.

It's been said in life that some people leave a legacy, and others leave a trail...

If you find it hard to build, I suppose you can always shovel.

Or if you need someone to do it for you, that's fine. Just remember that there is always SOMETHING that we can do for each other, even if it's just a smile.

The quickest path to unhappiness, in my opinion, is to dwell on one's own condition. When we start to think about helping others however? Joy begins.

Back to the banjo...

Jim, Great post about shoveling and community.

I would respectfully add that the only thing easier than looking in from the outside and tearing things down, is to sit in silence/ complicit silence, willfully indifferent in the face of political malfeasance . Quite a trail. It takes a lot of shoveling.

There are political posts that, by their nature, are political, and other posts that, by their nature, are not.

Look, some of us shovel with a sandbox shovel, some use a backhoe. Some probably even use a spoon after eating their cereal. Some shovel with a smile. Others shovel with less happy faces.

One way or another, the snow gets cleared. Each of us does it in our own way. Shoveling is good, for those of us who can do it.

I just don't think that every single thread needs to be about political stuff. People who wish to be political have that right, of course. I've been political m'self a time or two or three, and in retrospect, I suppose that my remark regarding people looking on the outside could have been interpreted that way, but let's face it, we all would like to see more people involved with Lakewood, would we not?

I really believe that there are times to focus on what Lakewoodites can all agree on. I think there has to be room for unity discussion in our community, as well. We need that too.

Clearing snow unifies.

Back to the banjo...