Stormy Weather

It was a strange week. Last Monday began with the continuing saga of the conflict in Egypt. We were bombarded with images that carried the forecast of new storms. Nightly we heard the crowds cry “O Pharaoh “let my people go”, a cry coming out of an economic malaise to ears that seemed unresponsive.

Tuesday and Wednesday you could hear the Chicago area cry “Let’s be done with winter”. It doesn’t have quite the urgency as does a confrontation with Pharaoh but feelings of oppression can get muddied. Tuesday we hardly noticed what the groundhog had to say.

But Wednesday and Thursday, it was interesting to see, in the face of one storm where people were trying to rise up to get pharaoh to hear, juxtaposed against another storm of a different kind. Here people responded by shoveling their neighbors' walk, staying late with PADS or getting up early to make sure folks had a noon meal Wednesday before heading out the door.

The News Media were angry that people on Lake Shore Drive weren’t angrier over the shut down of the drive. The Lake shore Drive folks seemed pretty thankful for the ways they were treated and rescued.

Media tend to thrive and focus on conflict and when they ran out of steam with the motorists, they tried to create some new steam among the politicians. Nothing seemed to gather steam except for the ways people responded to their neighbors and their feelings of thankfulness. Well, no story here except for the weather channel guys who couldn’t get enough of the high winds and upper air noises.

A strange week, in which we saw an unresponsive regime up against responsive people demanding change, and another storm bringing out another kind of responsiveness bringing out the best in us.

Sometimes all it takes is for someone to notice and care. By week's end, Pharaoh was trying to change, but who knows if it’s enough, or too late. In Chicago, we saw many go the extra mile. Storms can bring out all kinds of things, from repressed hopes and frustration to gratitude and much love. Hopefully, the storm over there can get worked out with a similar spirit we saw here. Anyway, storms can bring out the very best in us all, and groundhog or no groundhog, Spring is just around the corner.