Two sides of winTer

The accumulated snow on my porch roof has all but obliterated our view of the street below. There is little room left in our driveway for the disposal of the snow that has drifted down in and over our cars. Why don’t I put the cars in the garage? A garage, one that you enter from the house … well, that is something that can only exist in fantasies that include Cary Grant, Robert Redford and the loss of 40 pounds. Each winter morning is a festival of snow removal and mutterings that include some rather creative use of the language. My spouse, and I don’t know what he is trying to prove, refuses to use the snow blower on the driveway apron, preferring to shovel the stuff while I keep my hand near the phone and 911. I can hear him now, declaring that the snow blower can’t handle the “heavy stuff”…and he can?

I am remembering our first year in the house. There we were, naively beginning to attack what was a very long list of problems-extraordinaire on the inside. We never gave a thought to the outside and what happens when winter comes, the roofs are covered with snow and some of it melts. Fade fast to a relatively young and very inexperienced homeowner on the roof of the back porch, with an axe (not a hatchet …an axe … a big one,) chopping the glacial ice that was melting into the house, frighteningly adding to the list of “must do’s” without any idea of what to do. How cold was it? It was so cold that year that the blood from a cut that I deftly procured from said ice actually froze. I didn’t even know

From The Mailbag

Why? To the editor:

Why? How sad that we enter each new year with violence.

Why, is a word that I use often.

Why, is it taught that everyone is created in the image of God?

Why, then is God not everyone, male and female, black and white, biologically and genetically?

Why, is humanity so separated? We are all God’s children or so it’s taught?

Why, are people categorized into Immigrant, color, sexuality, education?

Why, can’t we conclude that Jesus was an immigrant? That education came after trial and error or that one learned from doing?

Being a child of the 1930s Depression, my parents were immigrants that learned difficult lessons. If one needed food, one looked to the farmer. To keep a house intact, one needed a carpenter. If the lights went out, one called an electrical handyman. All, educated in what they performed but not necessarily from sitting in an institute of education.

Education, today, can be snobbery according to the letters that follow one’s name. But those who have not, are no less!

If the world were considered to be a puzzle, then think! Each piece contributes to the making! Each piece contains color!

Each piece holds forming shape!

Each piece fits!

At the end, the world puzzle is a whole! Each piece needing the other!

A peaceful functioning world!

Why not?

Ramblings from the empty nest

that I’d cut my hand until it defrosted.

GLORiA B. FERRARA deWitt

Thanks for your support

To the editor:

I am writing to thank Syracuse-area residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season.

Generosity throughout contributed to a successful shoebox gift collection season at drop-off locations for the Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child. Across the U.S., the project

Klaiber, jklaiber@eaglenewsonline.com

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Ann Ferro

I shake my head at my innocence and sigh because we still have the same problem … even with an assortment of solutions that have included wiring the roof edges. The latter worked for one year. Then the squirrels found the insulation around the wires too tempting for their educated palates and the wiring stopped working. We have a roof rake. We’ve bought stuff that you throw on the roof that is supposed to open pathways for melting snow and ice, encouraging the results to drip harmlessly to the ground instead of inside of the house. The results of all of this are cautionary examples of futility.

Before I go on, I have to check and see if the family room door has defrosted. Yesterday I discovered that ice had locked the door into its frame … Where is that axe?

But there are other memories that show winter in another frame. I can so easily recall teaching my thentoddler first born how to build not only a snowman, but also a snow fort, hauling forth my best memories of one winter in Brooklyn when we had enough snow to build a similar fort between the cars on 55th Street. On First Street we built our fortifications around a bush that grew in the corner of our front yard. We made snow blocks, stacked them and then parged it all with a layer of snow. It was a fine fort that entertained us for days.

When the same little boy was four, his Dad took him to Toggenberg to learn how to ski. A four-year-old on skis - he’s never looked back! His collected over 9.3 million shoebox gifts in 2022. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2022, the ministry is now sending nearly 10.6 million shoebox gifts to children worldwide. Through shoeboxes—packed with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items—Syracuse-area volunteers brought joy to children in need around the world. Each gift-filled shoebox is a tangible expression of God’s love, and it is often the first gift these children have ever received. Through the continued generosity of donors since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 209 million giftfilled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories. This year, Samaritan’s Purse delivered its milestone 200 millionth shoebox, which was packed on a country-wide tour and then hand-delivered to a young girl in Ukraine.

Across NY, shoebox packers often shop for deals on shoebox items throughout the year, and many serve at a deeper level by becoming a year-round volunteer. Information about ways area participants can get involved year-round can also be found at samaritanspurse.org/ occ or by calling 518-437-0690.

Although local drop - off locations for gifts are closed until Nov. 13 – 20, 2023, anyone can still be a part of this life-changing project by conveniently packing a shoebox gift online in just a few simple clicks at samaritanspurse.org/ buildonline

These simple gifts, packed with love, send a message to children worldwide that they are loved and not forgotten.

LizeTTe MiLLer

SAmARitAN’S puRSe

CAVAC responds

To the editor:

As regards the article “Madison County to Provide County-wide Ambulance Service” by Kate Hill in the Jan. 18 Republican: CAVAC is able to assure the residents of the local ambulance tax district it serves that over 95% of the calls received are answered by its crews. The purchase of a “county-wide ambulance service” is to augment weaknesses in other areas of

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Creative Director: Gordon Bigelow, ext. 331, art@eaglenewsonline.com sister naturally joined in when she arrived at the right age. They both are experts on the slopes now. Their father, the shoveling spouse about which I’ve written, went skiing on Wednesday mornings until very recently. And the grandchildren are fearless on the slopes. You did notice that there is no mention of me on skis and there never will be. the county.

I used to ice skate. I loved to skate and still have my figure skates hanging in the basement, but time and arthritis have sent that ship sailing into the big sea of exaggerated memory along with the ability to get down low enough to build snow forts with my grandsons. For some of us winter is an outdoor paradise, and for others, now only observers, winter provides other choices, mostly indoor involving cozy fireplaces and warm liquids. When the snow continues to fall along with the temperatures there are inside activities for those of us for whom the outside is something but to be endured. Among those inside possibilities are the corner of the living room loveseat, a good book and a cup of tea. The spouse has discovered pickle ball. No freezing fingers and toes, no possibility of being hauled to the ER for a snow related injury, no swearing at my driveway or weeping at the ice build-up on the eaves. Isn’t that equal to a day on the slopes?

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

CAVAC is able to provide 24/7 care 365 days a year due to a dedicated staff of nine paid professional medics, a paid administrator and an assembly of approximately 80 volunteer EMTs, crew coordinators, and drivers. The size of its volunteer staff sets it apart from other local emergency medical organizations. It is worth noting that March 1, 2023 marks the start of CAVAC’s 49th year of service to the Cazenovia community, and it was wholly volunteer until 2002.

As with any volunteer organization, CAVAC always needs to replenish its staff. To inquire about volunteer opportunities, visit cavacambulance.org.

The CAVAC family wishes you all good health, safe travels, and thanks the community for its strong, continued support.

SARA MitChELL CAVAC pReSideNt

State should help save Caz College

To the editor:

Thank you for printing my letter Jan. 18, however I wanted to let your readers know that: I did spell McLaughlin correctly, there was no comma after would-be and the following sentence should have read: A difficult enrollment environment was made worse by the very real COVID19 crisis and is another good basis for outside help.

Nearly 50 years ago Cazenovia College was in a similar situation. An ad hoc committee was formed with mostly members of the community. They met with state officials and through various means they succeeded in saving the college. I am hopeful that our state representatives Joe Griffo and Al Stirpe will help this time around. If we can get the college back on its feet Caz’s many, many alumni could network students locally, from all across the country, and beyond, to increase the college enrollment.

Save Cazenovia College!

Kevin Kennedy eRieVille