snowball fight

Thursday night there was a nice snow laying on the ground. Scott and I had just finished shovelling the driveway. Mom let Lou the dog out to do his thing. About the same time, the neighbor's door opens and they let out their little dog. The neighbors are Iowa State fans, so their dog is named "Cyclone." At least they have a reason. No one knows why Lou is named "Lou."

The dogs hang out and do what dogs do. Their behavior is not fit to be discussed in this forum, but lets just say that we would be upset if people were behaving like that in the front yard.

Now my neighbor comes out on the porch in his bare feet to call his dog. My neighbor is a great man. Nice, kind, funny and a good father. Unfortunately, all Scott sees when the neighbor comes out onto the porch is a target. The pickup truck has collected enough ammunition and Scott begins to lob snowballs at our neighbor.

You know, a person needs to think about things before they act. Our neighbor is young, buff, and in shape. He is also a former professional hockey player who has an excellent arm.

Soon, Scott is overwhelmed by the snowballs that are coming back at him.

I decide to come to his rescue. So the game is on. A 16 year old with limited snow ball fight experience and an old man vs a professional athlete who has no shoes on. I have been in many snow ball fights and I am ok with the odds.

What is it about? Is not about anything really. There is no score to settle. It's not about getting his dog back, it's not really about pride, this is just what boys do. Give them a yard filled with snowball snow and there is going to be a fight.

Opinions will be offered for years about who won, but I am fine to just consider it a draw. I worry tho about the next time it snows and Scott is not around. Mano e mano against my neighbor would not go well for me.

After a long, nasty drive home in that snow storm, it was nice to put the snow to good use. Unfortunately, I will now live in fear of what he will do the next time he sees me going to get into my truck. I guess we should all remember that the guy next door is not a primarily a target, he is our neighbor.

Fact is, there are alot of people around us that we treat like targets that should be treated like neighbors.

Its a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.