At Your Service by Maggie Inge

At a gathering over the weekend, someone asked everyone in the crowd to raise their hand if they made New Year’s resolutions and then keep them keep them up if they had kept last year’s resolutions. I was mildly embarrassed as all eyes turned to me, the only one in the room to keep their hand up. The speaker quipped that “we” (everyone but me), just needed to lower our expectations.

The year’s end always brings me to reflection. This week, pen in hand, finds me surrounded by ballots for the Catskill Best Service Awards. As I work on counting the ballots I find myself recalling the names of those who were nominated, year after year, for service above and beyond the call of duty. These are a few who despite or perhaps because of overwhelming circumstances this year, gave of themselves in ways some would consider extraordinary but that is for them business as usual.

…and then one day you look up and it’s almost here – year’s end. It is difficult to say whether you are glad to see it’s over or sorry to see it go. Where did it go?

This year seems to have flown by (much like the ones before it only slightly more challenging). Much was lost in the wake of storms and flooding, but much was gained in the spirit of community. It is not a tradeoff, but there is something special in the ability of this community to come back time and again. There is good reason to look forward with anticipation.

Most of us, for most of the year, spend a considerable amount of time lamenting our condition; there is always something to complain about. This last year has been even worse than usual – an underactive economy and overactive nature. Now we find ourselves at the end of November and all that is supposed to be put aside for a day of thanks giving.

She’s got it. As you enter the restaurant her smile turns your way, she returns her attention to the guests she is serving and before you’ve blinked she is standing there with a warm welcome. She glides across the busy floor like a duck on Lake Tunis, holds out one of the chairs you and your party will need. You don’t notice that she has been carrying menus until you are seated and she hands them to you. You may not know what you will eat or drink or even if she will be waiting on your table; what you do know is that the next 90 minutes of your life are in good hands.

Over the weekend, thousands protested and hundreds were arrested as part of the initiative referred to as Occupy Wall Street (and several other locations around the country.) The movement is rooted in the frustrations arising from the on-going effects of the recession. Much like the Tea Party movement, it is populated by people whose resources have been diminished by the economic downturn and whose fears are that the downward spiral is not going to stop. The difference between the two movements is who they blame for the inequity.

It’s been a bad day. Not a hurricane-flood bad day, although it is raining (again); it’s the garden-variety bad day – the kind that everyone has from time to time. It is the kind of day when one notices that the skies are grey and everything else is painted in the same hue.

The sound of children’s laughter is like no other. The high-pitched squeals that punctuate the constant rumble of joy expressed give special meaning to summer days. Add to that the reverberations off the sun-dappled waters at Pine Hill Lake or a favorite swimming hole and you have a perfect moment.

If you’ve found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again, you’re not alone. In fact, most of us procrastinate to some degree.

Have you noticed that 35 mph feels like a rapid pace when you are driving down Main Street; but move over to the Reservoir Road, where that is the posted speed limit, and it feels like a long, slow, slog? The standard highway speed limit of 55 mph feels like a reckless pace along stretches of Route 28 and like you are standing still on the Thruway.