This has certainly been a challenging week for many people in the area with ice, snow, extreme cold and power outages. And, although there have been a few chronic complainers on social media, it's been a pleasant surprise to see how many people are praising and complimenting the people who've worked in the elements to provide for others.
It's been said that no news is good news.
That is often said when one hasn't heard from someone.
I'm not sure of the origin of this idiom, although I found two possibilities online with one attributing the proverbial phrase to King James I of England, who allegedly said "No news is better than evil news" (1616). Another source said the first recorded use of the expression in English was by James Howell in 1640, who wrote, "I am of the Italians' mind that said, 'Nulla nuova, buona nuova' (no news, good news).
Prior to the advent of the telephone (1870s) and the many technological forms of communication -- cell phones, texts, emails, etc. -- we now use, people wrote letters and sometimes, in the case of emergencies, sent telegrams.
Many people condemn "the media" claiming that all that is published or broadcast is bad news.
People across this nation were affected by the recent extreme winter weather with several news agencies reporting that as many as 5 million Americans lost power.
Many people in the south suffered greatly as the regions are not prepared for prolonged cold spells. A major electrical blackout in Texas had dire consequences. A friend in Texas said she learned that being cold for a prolonged period of time is exhausting.
Here, in the northwest corner of Arkansas, there have been cold winters, snow and ice. In fact, it seemed that was a regular occurrence in the 1980s when I first moved here, prompting me to say I was going to go back to Louisiana for winters. The past several winters here have been relatively mild with kindergartners having never seen more than an inch of snow here.
The last remembered snow storm here was in 2011 when school was out for 11 days due to snow.
The natural gas outage last week left many people shivering and some with frozen and broken water pipes.
But, even in the middle of the bad news, in the midst of the crises, there were good stories -- good neighbors who stepped up to help. There were city and school officials, highway and street workers, neighbors and students who worked, shoveled snow, offered rides, provided meals and donated materials and time to provide for those in need.
There are two articles in this week's paper about people who stepped up to help others, but there were many, many more instances in the community.
And, though uncomfortable from lack of natural gas for heat, many of the city's residents praised the natural gas company employees who worked long into the night to restore natural gas to their customers.
On social media, many praised the city's emergency workers -- police, fire and ambulance personnel -- and the street department employees. None of them worked short or "normal" hours with many working through the night to provide for the community.
Often, when talking with someone others laud as a hero or good neighbor, the subject often says "it was the right thing to do" or "I'm not a hero." Their humility underscores their good character and the fact that they've helped others not for their own gain, but for the benefit of the recipient.
May we each learn from these stories that even in times of trials, we may take our eyes off ourselves and look around and help someone else.
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Editor's note: Annette Beard is the managing editor of The Pea Ridge TIMES, chosen the best small weekly newspaper in Arkansas for five years. A native of Louisiana, she moved to northwest Arkansas in 1980 to work for the Benton County Daily Record. She has nine children, six sons-in-law, nine grandsons and three granddaughters with another granddaughter due this summer. The opinions expressed are those of the author. She can be reached at [email protected].