Ahh, the warnings of winter are right around the corner and before we know it, our cars are going to be tested each time we go to start up the engine or turn on the heater.

While you’ve got winter preparedness on your mind, why don’t you also watch out for your neighbors or senior citizens who aren’t able to prepare as well as you can?

Last year’s La Niña surprised us with snow in November. No one expected it and we certainly didn’t believe it was really going to hit the Puget Sound Region, but it did.

Hopefully you were one of the fortunate ones who were prepared for winter. We all heed the warnings of emergency preparedness and most of us are either ready for it or really lucky when disaster strikes. Some of us are not.

I think one of the greatest gifts you can give to a neighbor that might have a hard time in the cold is to “watch out for them this winter” so they don’t get caught being unprepared.

I’d like to share one of the sweetest stories I can remember from last year. There was an elderly woman that still drives her car (although she doesn’t have a garage to park her car indoors).

A nice man noticed that her car was piled with the November snow and she hadn’t driven in a while. He took the notion to scrape the snow off of her windshield, scrape the ice that had accumulated too and started her car for her to make sure her battery was still charged in the frigid temperatures.

As he looked around while her car warmed up for a bit, he noticed that the sidewalk hadn’t been shoveled. He scraped the snow from her sidewalk and unbeknownst to him, she was now able to retrieve her mail and newspaper again.

She was so appreciative for his kindness and he felt good for what he did for this very sweet person.

It doesn’t take much, but as you prepare for winter please be aware of your neighbors and surroundings to see if you can spread some warmth in this wonderful, charming town we still call home – Kirkland.

Kim Henwood co-owns Jay’s Kirkland Autocare with husband, Jay (the man in the aforesaid story). The auto repair shop has been doing wonderful things for people everyday to keep the community spirit alive since 1988. For information, call 425-822-3333.