{"id":1039,"date":"2022-12-22T08:39:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T16:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahoecall.com\/social\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2022-12-21T07:55:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:55:29","slug":"peace-goodwill-and-warmth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahoecall.com\/social\/peace-goodwill-and-warmth\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace, Goodwill, and Warmth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lightning storm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

GREETINGS FROM TAHOE CALL CENTER:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located in Northern 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\u2019t add further trauma). Rain or shine, short-staffed or no staff, our bilingual agents 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.  \u201cAlways here so you don\u2019t have to be\u201d \u2013 We help keep things running smoothly 24\/7, 365 days a year.  <\/em>Tahoecall.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 2022 – Blog 20<\/strong> -Marji Hines<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It seems winter came a bit earlier this year in our valley. Overnight temperatures have dropped to single digits now for several weeks. \u00a0Snowfall that for the most part usually melts by the afternoon, has lingered like an unwanted guest. \u00a0Daytime temperatures have struggled to climb much above the 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s..\u00a0 Pogonip, [\u2022 \\PAH-guh-nip\\ \u2022 noun. :\u00a0a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that is formed in deep mountain valleys of the western United States<\/em> -Webster] has blanketed many mornings leaving a beautiful but deadly coating of frost on the surrounding pines and bare branches. The first peoples named and knew of its treachery. This is indeed a \u2018winter wonderland\u2019 with everything flocked in sparkling frost. More pleasantly viewed from inside. Outside\u2026 it\u2019s just plain cold. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have a wood-stove in the center of our home that helps; an addition to the ground source heat units installed when we first built here. But, this year the electric coil back up system has come on several times as the ground source of heat wasn\u2019t sufficient. Dust on the coils, never used in 20 + years, emitted the reminiscent smell of a forced air furnace first starting up in the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cSmell that?\u201d my husband asked the other morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cYes. What is it?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe electric coils have engaged. The ground\u2019s temperature is not supplying enough heat.  That\u2019s how cold it is outside\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love looking at the snow, but I\u2019m not a winter sports enthusiast.\u00a0 I\u2019m thrilled that others enjoy it;\u00a0 I just never learned to ski. \u00a0When younger, \u00a0I enjoyed a little sledding, and fumble\/stumbled my way a bit on ice skates, but that was when I used to have to drive to a skating rink, or into the mountains for a snow \u2018play day\u2019– another life, another time.\u00a0 Living in this valley where snow is a winter \u2018given\u2019 has made me appreciate nature\u2019s process, where this time of hibernation for wildlife becomes a time of reflection for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I sit with my mug of hot tea, mind wandering, aimlessly gazing fondly out the window, marveling at the beauty until a thought pulls me abruptly back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many, just a short distance away in town, and even more across the oceans in other countries for which cold weather isn\u2019t something associated with beauty.\u00a0 Many are homeless from life, choice, or circumstance. And lately, even more are homeless because of war.\u00a0 The fern patterns on my frozen window pane hint at the horror. What must it be like having to survive and live in constant cold with no idea of when or if one will ever feel warm again? I shiver and clutch my mug closer for warmth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What a luxury heat suddenly seems. What an under-acknowledged blessing–easy to take for granted until it\u2019s gone or taken away.\u00a0 We’ve been so fortunate in our country.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t had to survive bombs randomly falling from the sky.\u00a0 The closest I’ve come to just a glimpse of that terror is during thunderstorms, where lightning strikes with terrifying ground-shaking explosions of noise echoing across the mountains. \u2018This must be what war sounds like,\u2019<\/em> I remember thinking, but the victims of bombs suffer much more than the shock and alarm of a loud boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I continue pondering and have the incredulous luxury of wondering, what would it be like if it were my home that was destroyed? What would I do? Where would I go (if I even survived)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People die in wars; lives are forever changed; infrastructure and history is decimated\u2026and then, as though that\u2019s not enough trauma, it\u2019s winter and cold\u2026bitter cold.\u00a0 Safe shelter is gone; water is gone; power is gone; fuel is gone; there\u2019s no way to get warm; clothing and blankets can only do so much; and day by day, minute by minute the bombs\u2026 keep\u2026 coming. Callously they rain down; stealing everything familiar, destroying any remaining innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Simple daily tasks become dangerous challenges. Everything you need to survive compels you to exit whatever shelter you\u2019ve found and risk the randomness of the sky falling.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a literal \u2018Russian Roulette\u2019 so many Ukrainians work to survive every day; just trying to do any one of the necessary things we take for granted here… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The item I nee<\/em>d isn\u2019t in the local store?\u00a0 No worries, I\u2019ll just order it online.\u00a0 The room is cold, I\u2019ll just turn up the thermostat and put the kettle on to make cocoa or tea. Maybe I\u2019ll just take a long soak in a warm tub.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m hungry so I\u2019ll cook something. \u00a0The lights went out but that\u2019s no problem, I can turn on our generator or get our battery lights out of storage. The power will be restored shortly. \u00a0I\u2019m tired, I can be warm and safe in bed… <\/em>\u00a0 How quickly everything that makes life \u2018normal\u2019 for us can disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We pride our recent experiences \u2018surviving\u2019 Covid with its lock downs, shortages, and inconveniences.\u00a0 We have come through that storm and now only have to deal with a few delivery delays and product shortages.\u00a0 We are privileged to still bemoan or ignore the recommendations to wear masks indoors for protection from Flu, Covid, and RSV virus..\u00a0 \u201cHaven\u2019t we resolved that Covid thing<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 I heard someone ask in line at a store recently, “I thought we were through with that.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d It\u2019s not going anywhere anytime soon. \u00a0That \u2018Covid thing\u2019 <\/em>is going to be an ever-present malady that still threatens us– mildly or seriously \u00a0depending on our vaccines, immunity, age, and pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently heard Covid’s permanence referred to as, \u2018\u2026like the Flu; a seasonal, reoccurring phenomenon.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0But, living with the \u2018Flu\u2019, doesn\u2019t pose the same upset as living with war.\u00a0 Most of us, experiencing the Flu, still have our homes, heat, water, food, medicines–we still have our \u2018normal\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This season of “Peace on Earth\u201d still comes regardless of current events.\u00a0 We yearn for the impossible, possible, but our experience on this side of the looking glass pales in comparison to the experiences of those on the other side– those who live where the sky is falling.\u00a0 We pray, we hope, we contribute and wait for things to get better for all who are suffering.\u00a0 We struggle to find a comparison; to empathize or understand their experience within our sheltered lives here among so many blessings:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n