Over the past week, many of us have – at least temporarily – enjoyed the Winter Wonderland that Mother Nature created with Winter Storm Leon.

Spend a few minutes on social media, or peruse the pictures we’ve printed this week, and you’ll see Southerners slipping and sliding in our own form of sledding, with laundry baskets, cookie sheets and even a baby pool.

Children have had a winter vacation. Parents probably need one, now.

But even as we joyfully participate, we need to remember those who couldn’t because they were too busy taking care of the rest of us.

Law enforcement officers and first responders worked for as many as 48 hours straight, making sure our streets were safe, helping us get out of ditches when they weren’t, and reacting when things weren’t right.

Health care workers moved into Andalusia Regional Hospital and Andalusia Manor, or were chauffeured to and fro’ by their bosses in big, powerful four-wheel drives.

Public works employees erected barricades; utilities workers kept the lights on and the water flowing. In all of the Covington Electric’s coverage area, there were only 10 outages reported. In Andalusia, there were none.

All of those folks likely could have used a snow day or two, too. But while you were playing, they were working.

Don’t forget to say thank you to them, and to the leaders who orchestrated their responses. Many hours of thought went into planning ways to keep the populace safe. Much effort was expended executing those plans.

To all of those who worked through the “winter vacation,” including our own employees and our other friends in the media, we say thanks.

Because our leaders made good plans and cautious decisions, we were spared problems experienced in other parts of the state.

We are fortunate, indeed.