It is snowing once again. And while that takes a bite out of the public works budget, upsets the schedules of schools and parents, and depresses some local commerce (though increasing select others), I confess that from my vantage point - a fourth floor walk-up in a vibrant urban community with low-rise buildings so that my gaze glances over the rooftops of my neighborhood - I am loving this. It is reminiscent of the dream-world of the chimney sweep in Mary Poppins, only cleaner.

Avram and I are trying out urban living, and with an easy walk to public transportation, a supermarket, fabulous hardware store (yeah!), bakeries, coffee shops and dozens of stores that fit almost every fancy, what’s not to like? We are no doubt exerting a footprint much lighter here than in Baltimore.

But as I look out the windows, I realize I know almost nothing about the people here, their lives or livelihoods, their dreams and desires, if they like noise or quiet, their patterns of coming, their destinations upon going. At least not yet.

They are to me as silent and foreign as the trees in my woods back home. I probably know less than half the trees in my woods by name (though we were introduced through our friend Charlie and I am trying to keep up!) which mirrors the study that tells us that most of us know less than half of our close human neighbors by name.

It is little wonder, then, that we often treat each other the way we treat the natural world around us, as resources and tools to get what we want.

One first corrective in helping us see the ‘other’ as neighbor, not as object but as subject, as a being that makes rightful claims upon us just by their very being (Emmanuel Levinas teaches us), is to get to know their names.

Charlie is helping me do that with trees as best he can. He is encouraging me to own and use a hand-lens, especially now in the winter months when buds adorn the tips of so many trees.

His argument is almost irresistible: “Think of your hand-lens as underwear: don’t leave home without it; keep it hidden most of the time under your clothes; and be embarrassed if someone discovers you without it.”

Now, if learning about our human neighbors could have as compelling an advocate, urging and device!