Thousands of snow angels descended upon Escambia and Santa Rosa counties on Tuesday, breaking a centuries old record for snow angels in Northwest Florida. (Previous more meager snows might have produced a few sad snow angels in the region, but nothing like the angels produced Tuesday by giddy children and adults alike.)
A few of those snow angels were playing double roles. Because some of them were guardian angels as well.
Across the region we played reindeer games throughout the day, from snowball fights and building snowmen to rides down snow-covered hills on cardboard or beach boogie boards because, face it, who here has a snow sled?
It was a strange, weird, beautiful day. Snow records in Pensacola and Milton weren’t just topped. They were shattered life falling icicles. Milton produced 10 inches of snow, nearly three times the previous state record. Pensacola had 8.9 inches of snow on Tuesday, which also shattered the city’s own record.
But it wasn’t all a blast. Arctic blast maybe. But reindeer games blast?
Not for everyone. Or everything.
We came to our neighbors’ rescue when the needed it, shoveling snow from neighbors’ stoops like we lived in Baltimore, sometimes offering shelter to those in need, and sometimes saving the lives of the small and vulnerable animals and wildlife left to fend on their own.
“That’s what makes the world go ’round,” said 79-year-old Patrick Mascarella, who is battling cancer of the esophagus and who recently underwent surgery, speaking of the kindness that abounds amid a world of trouble, and, often, ugliness.
Mascarella and his roommate Nancy Thorpe live on Cervantes Street. He’s in pain, weakened and down to about 120 pounds from his normal 160-165 range. So when the power went out because of the snow, he faced serious danger.
His neighbor had offered them shelter earlier, but Mascarella and Thorpe said they would soldier through. He didn’t want to be a burden. That was a mistake.
“It was terrible,” he said of the smothering cold in the 109-year-old Pensacola home. “I had a down blanket, but you could see your breath in the cold. It was unreal and the timing was bad because of my health.”
Later, the roommates’ angel came to their home again, insisting they take his offer of warmth and support, letting them stay in his studio. This time, they replied with a brrrr-y “yes.” Temperatures in the early morning hours dipped to 18 degrees.
“He’s a good friend, and ever since I first got diagnosed, he’s helped me out,” he said. “Yes, there are good people. He reminds me of my son. I lost my son, but he is just like him.” The humble guardian angel wished to remain anonymous.
Yes, there was kindness amid the region-wide giddiness. We saw a neighbor jumping starting another neighbor’s car with snow covering half of their calves. A few neighbors shoveled snow from other neighbors’ steps.
Former Olympic silver medalist Beth Barr rescued a small baby bird on Tuesday, bringing it into her home. Normally, she would take the little winged thing to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida, but…
“The Wildlife Sanctuary is great and normally I’d go straight there,” she said. “But − the roads.”
Barr added, “We saw it struggling flying about an hour before, while the other birds were fine. So we kept our eye on it. Then I was on the phone talking and saw a round little thing swoop down in front of the window and I just knew it was him.”
She went to the front door.
“There he was,” said Barr, a member of the U.S. Olympic Swimming team at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and longtime Pensacola swim coach. “Nose on the corner, balled up in a fluffy blue ball shivering. He let me pick him up. That’s how I knew he was in trouble.”
On Wednesday, she went to check on the small bird, which she believes is a blue grey gnatcatcher.
“He flew out and had me chasing him all over my closet for about 30 minutes,” Barr said. “He finally settled down and landed on a shirt, so I was able to get him. We figured he was ready to go.”
Yes, there are good people doing good things, like the volunteers who always show up to help care for the birds and critters at the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. The organization wouldn’t survive without them, nor would many of the animals that depend on them for care and rehabilitation.
But Wildlife Sanctuary director Emily Holden canceled all volunteer work on Tuesday. She didn’t want her volunteers or staff driving in unsafe conditions.
Holden stayed at the Wildlife Sanctuary overnight on Tuesday, bringing in many of the elderly and at-risk birds and giving them extra bedding, extra food and heat lamps.
“I spent the night with the kids,” she said, referring the rescued wildlife. “We got a few people who brought in birds early (Tuesday) but a lot of people can’t because of the roads.”
She expects more good citizens to bring in rescued animals as soon as the roads thaw.
Most people played through the snow, or hunkered down and played Netflix, but so many folks kept an eye out for neighbors. On the East Hill Neighborhood Association Facebook page, good folks like Ashley Livingston sent out a post −”…still have power if anyone needs anything! Warm up, warm meal, blankets, etc. Please message me if you’re in need!”
Linda Boyle Knauss wrote on a Facebook post that her neighbors “Edgar and Luis shoveled paths up and down several driveways on our block. Wonderful and welcome surprise!”
Ground-clearing gesture, but not ground-breaking, right? It’s not going to change the world, is it?
Wrong. Goodness and love can definitely make the world better. And the good people to do it are our neighbors. Be safe, snowfolks.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida winter storm brings Pensacola neighborly love to forefront