Mid-Ohio Valley residents can be caught off guard by a winter storm featuring snow, ice (so much ice) and sub-zero temperatures. Worse still if those temps keep many of us snow-and-ice-bound for a week or more. But we are fortunate to have among us those who go to work when the rest hunker down.

First responders (can you imagine driving an ambulance in this mess?); electric, phone, cable and internet line workers; water department workers; plumbers; road-clearing crews … an army of people made sure as many of the roads as they could handle were plowed and treated as quickly as possible.

The folks stocking shelves in grocery stores (if you shopped a day ahead of the storm, you saw the impossible task they were facing) and working in pharmacies tried to keep us fed and our medicine stocked up. Health care workers got the job done.

Conditions were so harsh that even traffic on the Ohio River was halted.

After a day or two, there were plenty of others able to get to work and keep things running to the best of their abilities. But even after a week, it felt easier to stay warm and cozy at home than to face the elements.

To those who didn’t have a choice (other than to choose a line of work that put them in such a position), we say thank you! May you have a long vacation somewhere warm scheduled very soon.