Little Things...
Hi all,
Where to begin?
What I wanted to do was begin this post with a nice photo of happy folks eating Thanksgiving dinners out on the deck of a local Cape Cod restaurant where my wife and I donate our time on every forth Thursday in November. Guests, (both out on the deck and inside) love to watch the birds flock to the feeders. The photo below will give you an idea of the beauty and peace of the setting.
On that special day, the restaurant simply opens its doors and feeds all comers for free... And if a person doesn’t have transportation, or wants to eat at home, we take care of that too. The participants range from the well-to-do to the financially challenged to the lonely to the aged. (Mostly not the former.) All staff work is donated by both employees and non-employees. Normally, we handle around 300 meals; it’s all very hectic, but it’s manageable...
But this year was to be very different. First, the restaurant received 500 reservations, (and there are always people coming in off the street). Secondly, a strong storm came barreling up the East Coast bringing with it gale-force winds and inches of rain. When all was said and done, the team shared 550 meals with our friends. But because of the storm, we also had 100 cancellations and no birds at the feeders.
And that’s the part that gets me... One hundred cancellations and no birds... Hungry people, hungry birds...
See you by the feeders,
Alan
Where to begin?
What I wanted to do was begin this post with a nice photo of happy folks eating Thanksgiving dinners out on the deck of a local Cape Cod restaurant where my wife and I donate our time on every forth Thursday in November. Guests, (both out on the deck and inside) love to watch the birds flock to the feeders. The photo below will give you an idea of the beauty and peace of the setting.
On that special day, the restaurant simply opens its doors and feeds all comers for free... And if a person doesn’t have transportation, or wants to eat at home, we take care of that too. The participants range from the well-to-do to the financially challenged to the lonely to the aged. (Mostly not the former.) All staff work is donated by both employees and non-employees. Normally, we handle around 300 meals; it’s all very hectic, but it’s manageable...
But this year was to be very different. First, the restaurant received 500 reservations, (and there are always people coming in off the street). Secondly, a strong storm came barreling up the East Coast bringing with it gale-force winds and inches of rain. When all was said and done, the team shared 550 meals with our friends. But because of the storm, we also had 100 cancellations and no birds at the feeders.
And that’s the part that gets me... One hundred cancellations and no birds... Hungry people, hungry birds...
See you by the feeders,
Alan