"I Am Not Lost"....

reads the tag on each scarf... "If out in the cold, keep this scarf to stay warm..."

I do love our library - so many things go on there that have nothing to do with books...like this Boy Scouts Share the Warmth project. (oops..see Addendum) 

This particular project really hit home for me on this bitterly cold morning..I had just driven up to the library from the lake shore where I had been trying to photograph a sunrise. I was all bundled up in a winter parka with hood, wool scarf and hat, gloves and well-insulated winter boots but still feeling the cold, (especially in my still numb fingers..the ones that must be exposed in order to push the shutter button!) and was anxious to get home to have a hot chocolate by the fire.  

And there before me...scarves everywhere..hanging from every possible bench, tree, or railing..So what's that all about?  On the pavement...a tag that had fallen off one of the scarves...Aha...I see..

It made me stop for a moment and think...of those less fortunate.. especially those in our community who are unhoused..out in the cold...with nowhere to go to get warm..no fire waiting, no hot chocolate... and to try to imagine, standing there in the cold, what that would be like...

I went to drop off a book..but I went home inspired by the example of  those young people who were not only aware of the plight of others in our community, but who cared enough to do something tangible to help.
 
Their project encouraged me to go home and find a couple of warm scarves to hang on those railings too.. a small gesture..but one has to start somewhere. 

ADDENDUM: How disillusioning. I took some scarves to hang at the library this morning (feb3) and the ones hanging there yesterday had all disappeared! Not a single scarf anywhere! I asked the librarian if the project was over; she had no idea - apparently the library has nothing to do with it? Anything that takes place on the property around the library is City property ..not theirs! So, oops..mea culpa...sorry for misleading everyone..But what I really found upsetting was that she said a "homeless person" took them all down overnight and left them in a heap. How she knew it was a "homeless person", I do not know; my first thought was that maybe someone did not like the messy look or disapproved of the project?...Whatever...no point speculating...but I would hate to think that one person's action could ruin the whole project..My experience this morning sure took the shine off all that good feeling the project had given me yesterday!