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Located in Nevada, Tahoe Call Center is a small family-run business with a big heart, ready to help with your communication needs. Since 2012 we have assisted clients coast to coast in varied economic and emergency climates: wild-fires, blizzards, ice storms, pandemics, and unforeseen events (with affordable, competitive pricing that didn’t add further trauma).
Rain or shine, short-staffed or no staff, we help keep your business going: Answering phones / taking messages / providing information / Taking credit card orders / collecting and transmitting confidential information via email, SMS, or API (linking with existing systems). Our agents are trained to process sensitive information with courtesy, respect and maintain the strictest of confidence. We also help with those intermittent overflow call surges during business hours and cover your customer inquiries when you are closed. “Always here so you don’t have to be” – We help keep things running smoothly 24/7, 365 days a year. Tahoecall.com
January 2022 Blog: 16 M.Hines
It’s winter in the Sierras. Snowfall blankets the mountains – a lot so far this year which is a blessing in our drought-ravaged ‘norm’. Some may differ with my adjective preferring to describe it as an inconvenience, or hardship. And this would also be an accurate observation. I suppose, like life, it’s all in how each will view this season.
Most kids love it as do skiers, snowboarders, skaters, snow-shoe hikers, and other sports enthusiasts who can’t wait to immerse themselves into the thrill of fresh, icy powder. While I love the clean, brisk air, if I’m to be honest, lately I find myself preferring to take in the view from the other side of the glass with a warm fire blazing (Middle age changes the landscape a bit).
During these cold months, I appreciate watching nature’s outside from the inside. The birds seem so oblivious to the frigid temperature; their warm, down feather coats protecting them despite their tiny size. Squirrels and other critters borough deep within dens and appear occasionally when temperatures entice; always skittish and wary of coyotes or other predators on the prowl. Sometimes deer appear, almost magically then evaporate just as quickly in their quest for food. Cougars are also watchful of these. Most Bears sleep now. We shouldn’t (and don’t want to see them) until the spring thaw returns –and then we really don’t want to see or encounter them at the peak of their hunger. The fires of this past year, and other years, have changed the quantity and variety of wildlife seen. But despite everything rabbit tracks still stitch patterns decorating the fresh powder like cable-knit sweaters. Nature exists, nature continues, and life -for us- continues.
Overcast days of gray comfort some, softening the harsh realities of the outside world, but can bring others anxiety; smothering them in shrouds of fear and uncertainty. Will we see blue skies or sunshine again? This apprehension is broken though, anxiety is assuaged by moments of hope when intermittent brilliant days of golden sunshine, surrounded by an endless blue palate, bounces off the layers of crystalline ice to sparkle as though God cast a million diamonds at our feet. Painfully bright to view with unprotected eyes, but we gaze in awe anyway, marveling at the brilliance; clean, fresh, young, new.
It beckons us outside and we breathe deep. The icy air fills our lungs, making us gasp. This time of year it’s easy to take for granted that sunshine equals warmth; a dangerous assumption at these altitudes. We still need our coats.
Winter days grow longer. The overcast gray skies sometimes feel endless. We shovel out our existence for the hundredth time. No longer a novelty of newness, we’re tired now; we’ve been here before. The once sparkling diamonds now resemble coal. Daily temperatures tease us, rising just enough to begin a thaw only to freeze again overnight. Ice patches lay hidden beneath the crusted snow like landmines waiting to wreak havoc on all refusing to be careful or acknowledge the ice’s existence. These unseen dangers have the potential to cause major or minor injury depending on age, health, or precautions taken.
We gaze at this horizonless, cold existence and worry, ‘will it never end…’ until a green sprout, the first of many, pushes its way up through the snow reaching for the sunlight; Nature’s affirmation of hope. It’s still overcast to our eyes, but new life stretches upward; an act of faith. Does it see something we can’t? Is it telling us to embrace the day and move forward too?
It is not casually said, “Life is what we make it.” I would add, …and how we perceive it. We follow the circle of seasons with established expectations, but we know each year isn’t exactly the same. We can remember, but we can’t go back. We can change today, try to make things better for tomorrow, and learn from yesterday’s experiences and mistakes. We can choose goodness instead of the known evil human nature’s fear reflex gravitates towards. We can acknowledge we have more in common than blindly accepting the outside noise. We can celebrate and be a part of the whole picture again instead of limiting ourselves to only one side, one-half of existence. It takes courage and one step to move forward out of the gray, overcast days of winter. Courage and one step to lift the lid and leave the confinement that the outside noise has boxed us all into. Courage and one step to reach for the light of brighter days; choosing to MAKE things better instead of waiting for things to get better.
Nature doesn’t adhere to our ‘instant’ expectations. Nature keeps its own time. If nothing else is to be learned, Nature’s seasons repeatedly demonstrate change is the only constant, and patience, courage, and ‘just one step’ are our tools to make tomorrow better.
