Finneran: Those Snow Drifts Hold Stories

Friday, February 20, 2015

Tom Finneran, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

Confession—I write this from the warm sands of St. Maarten, gazing at turquoise waters, and hoping that I can find my trusty shovel upon my return to the snow capital of the Western Hemisphere. Right now I’m confident (and frustrated) that the next blizzard will ground my return flight. Perhaps I’ll be able to make it home by May…………

Thoughts on our record snowfalls---

• I’m a city kid and I have no idea where I’ll be able to pile the latest gifts from Mother Nature; when I left my little hamlet of Mattapan it was already piled head-high; I’m blessed with a supple back and strong shoulders but I know that this will be a real test;
• Cabin fever! Is there a medicine for it? Even newlyweds need a little time and space from each other. Imagine the parents of young kids, cooped up day after day while outside the snow piles up and the wind cuts like a knife; card games, board games, and books will prove precious; as will vodka after the kids are tucked in…………..
• Prediction---lots of babies will enter the world nine months hence; when outdoor sports are ruled out, indoor sports take over; congratulations to all the newly expectant moms and dads; babies are always a blessing;
• Mother Nature’s bare knuckles are hurting every restaurant, barroom, and retail store in the state; no person in their right mind ventures forth in weather like this………and that loss of business will also affect the state’s revenues. Poor Governor Baker’s financial problems just got worse……..
• Governor Baker and Mayor Walsh are steady performers; I’m impressed by their firm, calm, and sensible leadership. We’ve had the equivalent of two years’ worth of snowfall in less than one month—an unheard of challenge in the history of the state—and they have mobilized massive forces in response. Kudos to them and to this most recent example of “Boston Strong”.
• Governor Baker hit an absolute homerun when he declared “Valentine’s Week” in response to last week’s Valentine’s Day blizzard. It was actually a grand slam when he reminded us to “buy local” whenever we get to celebrate the day……….it’ a big day for restaurants and there’s no need to have the cooks, waitresses, and bartenders take a big hit. Donna and I will take his suggestion to heart.
• Give a big shout-out to those Revere kids who volunteered to shovel out the town’s senior citizens and fire hydrants; there’s no better way to show kindness and concern to one’s neighbors; those kids are classy kids. Well done.
• So too those sweet kids at Northeastern University whose first thoughts were of others, shut in and shut off from the world and likely quite frightened by the weather. Whatever their faiths, their God smiled upon their kind deeds.
• Another shout out too to Mayor Marty for his decision to dump snow directly in Boston Harbor; when ambulances, police, and fire equipment cannot reach troubled citizens, when those citizens’ lives are clearly endangered, the snow must go. It cannot be merely piled up on itself, higher and higher to the skies. An obvious public emergency trumps any minor environmental concerns. The streets must be cleared. That’s job #1.
• Send thanks to Mayor DeBlasio of New York City; sure the city is a rival of ours in many ways but New York came through in a Big Apple way with two snow-melters in our hour of need; I’m reminded of Boston’s legendary response to the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia when a major   explosion created a life and death emergency situation. Boston’s citizens came through with a trainload of food, medicine, and volunteers, cementing a century of friendship. Thank you New York.
• Am I the only person who thinks of the Russian front of WW II whenever the winds howl and the snow stings the eyes? Adolf Hitler, the alleged military genius, made the most colossal blunder of his notorious criminal career when he launched his invasion of Russia in late June of 1941.He must have forgotten that the brutal Russian winter was the toughest army ever created. Hitler should have held a séance with the long-dead Napoleon, whose soldiers’ blood drenched Russian snows. Six months later, as German soldiers froze to death sans boots and winter clothes, they tragically learned that their leader was a deranged demonic murderous fool. Sic semper tyrannis.

Now where’s my snow shovel?

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Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.

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