My time off from work has all been used due to the neighbor abuse we experienced at the old house plus the move to escape that dangerous situation. There were many days that the neighbors prevented me from working. Not only did I have to use all my vacation time, but I had to take unpaid time off from work too. The harassment at work from the bad neighbors at the old house was so severe, it put my job in jeopardy. 

Thankfully, that is behind us now. We were able to leave the house where we were harassed daily and the neighbor’s attempted arson. However, there is still fallout from those events. Part of that fallout is that I had to work Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving trying to make up time. 

Surprisingly, I did have a few invitations to Thanksgiving in our new location. I had to turn them down due to working and due to covid. N95 respirators only work to prevent covid if they are worn on your face properly. 

The neighbor right next to me – the first one to come over and introduce herself when we moved in – brought me a plate of food. I was so grateful that she was kind enough to think of me.

To be honest, I was feeling a little down about Thanksgiving. Even though we are safe in a new home, it just doesn’t feel like the holidays this year. It’s hard learning a new area after being forced out of an area I lived in and knew for 25 years. That is the reality of what happened – we were bullied and harassed out of an area we knew. Our lives were threatened. We are starting over somewhere new.

My favorite Thanksgiving movie is Pieces of April with Katie Holmes. There is a scene in the movie where she explains the meaning of Thanksgiving to her neighbors who do not speak English. To paraphrase, she explained that there was this one time when people just realized that they needed each other, and they came together due to that need. 

It was the plate of food that neighbor brought me and the kindness of another neighbor in the days after Thanksgiving that finally helped me to feel the true meaning of the holiday this year. 

When we lived 3 hours south in the old house, I used to say we would get nickel and dimed with snow – half an inch here, half an inch there. It was just enough snow to be annoying, but not enough to really plow or shovel or cause problems.

Here in the North Country, you get your money’s worth of snow and then some. To be honest, I am having culture shock with the snow up here and it is only December. I wonder if I am hardy enough to live in the North Country with the winters here. 

Yes, I’ve always said I wanted to live up here when I retired. Honestly, I had a very romanticized idea of what that would look like. I did not factor in the reality of three senior cats and being completely alone because we fled an abuse situation. 

We have been getting about 7-8 inches of snow every other day since Thanksgiving. There are constant winter weather warnings and travel advisories. The roads have been closed once already. It’s snowing right now, and when I went out to shovel, there is at least 3 feet of snow out front. I’m not exaggerating.

My weight is still low due to health issues I have been having the past year due to the neighbor abuse at the old house. I’m under 90 pounds, unintentionally. There is no way I can handle a snowblower.

For weeks, I have been calling every single ad I see for snowplowing. I have asked all the neighbors and everyone I see, from the librarian to the postmaster, for recommendations for snowplowing.

I call and leave messages. I name drop, saying “this person told me to call you.” No one calls me back. 

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, someone answered their phone. I told them I saw their ad in our local flier for snowplowing and would like an estimate. He told me, “I don’t go to that town.” You have an ad in our local flier advertising snowplowing for this town, and you don’t come here? Well, thank you for answering the phone at least. I have left dozens of messages, and no one calls me back.

Knowing I cannot handle a snowblower, I did get an electric shovel. It weighs 20 pounds. I know I can handle it. My thought was that it is like a mini show blower. If I keep up on the snow it will be fine.

How very wrong I was.

That first big snowfall on Thanksgiving, I went outside after work. I can only shovel twice a day – before work and after work. By the time I got outside after work, there was already way too much snow for the electric shovel to handle. 

The neighbor across the street saw me struggling with the electric snow shovel. He came over and used his snowblower and cleared my driveway for me. He explained that he is retired, but his wife still works, so he keeps their drive clean. He used to help the woman who lived in this house before me (she passed away). 

Now he is helping me too.

I offered to pay him. He refused. At least let me give you gas money, that machine costs money in gas. He refused. 

His kindness has helped me feel Thanksgiving in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time. As it was said in Pieces of April, there was a time when people needed each other. 

I still need to figure out something kind to do for him for helping me. Even though he is helping me with the snowblower, I am still going out twice a day to shovel (unless he beats me to it with the snowblower.)

Having his help with the snow in the driveway and front has freed me up to be sure that my back deck is shoveled. I know to keep the snow off that due to the weight of snow. So I am shoveling the back deck when the neighbor helps me with the driveway.

Words cannot express how grateful I am for the help.

Even though I had to work on the actual holiday, our first Thanksgiving in the North Country is one for the records books. I am so thankful for kind neighbors. Even if they did not help me with snow and remember me on the holiday, just the fact that we are safe here and our lives are not in danger is the greatest gift. 

We are getting more snow now. It’s only December. We have 3 feet of snow. I’m sick of it. It’s going to be a long winter. I’m struggling to get the car out. I’m struggling to get my mail. I’m struggling to get to the grocery store, the vet office, and anywhere else we need. 

Even though I am struggling with winter, I am grateful that we are safe. We are together. We have neighbors who are not actively trying to murder us (truly, that is what the old neighbors did – they tried to murder us with the arson and other physical injuries they caused). 

We are forced to learn a brand-new area because we had to escape an abuse situation. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. Yet I’m grateful we are together and safe. 

Last year I had to deal with the 20-year-old child across the street having some sort of drug induced psychosis and driving his truck into the bushes and front porch of my house. 

This year, we are in a place where neighbors bring me a plate of food and help me with snow. 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Yellow House in the North Country. 

We are hoping the Yellow House in the North Country will be a new series on the blog.