The ice

It's been years since most of the Southeast Missourian's coverage area was walloped by a major ice storm. There are so many power outages and fallen trees and limbs that it's easy to get overwhelmed by it all. But it's not too early to praise crews who persisted throughout Monday afternoon and night and then did it again all day and night Tuesday to clear roads and streets and begin the task or repairing power lines.

Under the most treacherous of conditions, utility workers and road crews did their best. They all deserve our thanks as well as our admiration. By midmorning Tuesday, most major routes were passable, and power was already being restored.

There already have been countless stories of personal heroism as well. Neighbors helping neighbors any way they could. Friends with electricity inviting friends without power to spend the night -- or maybe several nights. The front-desk personnel who maintained a sense of hospitality while juggling requests for every hotel room available in the area. And the quick-thinking, multitasking counter worker who looked at the long line of customers waiting to be served at a fast-food restaurant and did something that immediately made everyone feel a little better on a terrible Tuesday morning: She smiled. Almost everyone smiled back.

Warming centers were quickly opened. Emergency crews went about their duties, despite the slick streets and barricades of limbs. Employees at many businesses attacked the thick layer of ice-sleet-slush that covered most sidewalks. Entrepreneurial individuals with snow blades mounted on their trucks sped from one parking lot to another.

There are many ways to react. We can complain about the ice. Or we can marvel at the willingness of so many people to pitch in and make life a bit more bearable at a time when bleak weather has an icy chokehold on our throats.

Let's get through this the best way we can, by being grateful for all the help we're getting and by offering to do whatever we can for others. And let's welcome those forecasts for sunshine and temperatures climbing to the upper 40s.