Hands Up!

There is a pretty cool tradition (pun intended) in New England, where I now reside. Starting in October, there are hundreds of 3-4-foot (~ 1 meter) wooden posts impaled all around walkways, driveways and parking lots. They need to be up before the ground freezes and hopefully (but not always) before the first major snowfall.

Those of my readers in colder climes may immediately recognize what these wooden stakes are. Sometimes they are not wood, but metal, and in some places they are a lot higher than four feet (over one meter).

These are snow stakes used to guide shovels and snowplows when clearing the area after a snowfall. Otherwise, we may not know where the boundaries are under a beautiful pristine blanket of snow.

But on to the tradition I've only seen in New England (though I sincerely hope it's elsewhere as it's brilliant and beautifully practical). The tradition goes as this: if you find a mitten, hat or scarf on the ground, sidewalk, parking lot, etc. You locate the nearest snow stake and stick it atop the stake.

This way the owner can return to the area and locate it, even after a few inches of snow has fallen and covered up everything else on the ground.

As I said, very practical.

It's a small, simple way people take a moment out of their own busy lives to help another. Granted not every glove finds the owner by the end of winter, and by spring there are several gloves and mittens waving to the warming sun. But I've also seen mothers rescue a baby's mitten from a snowstake after a child tossed it from the stroller. I've seen an elderly man retrieve his hat that he didn't know dropped from his pocket when the afternoon turned warm.

Little gestures, people helping others without a thought of recognition.

Beautiful lights in this world.