Help thy neighbor

To the Editor:

On February 12, two days after the blizzard, my son Scott and I noticed some two and a half feet of snow on our neighbor's camp roof. Knowing that they lived a distance away in the southern part of Maine, we decided to do a good deed and shovel off their roof. After all, people in Maine are known for this.

Apparently, another nearby neighbor observed us on the roof and called the Oxford County Sheriff's office to make a complaint. She made sure she identified us and waved before returning home to call. We surmise she wanted to shovel the roof. Was she being compensated? We did not know — if so, we saved her a lot of work.

So, I got a call from a deputy at the sheriff's office and she inquired if I had been on that property? I explained I had and what I was doing there. The deputy said I was forbidden to be on the property and not to repeat this intrusion.

I must add the deputy expressed her reluctance to admonish me but had to do her duty.

I was brought up to be helpful to neighbors and was also trained to be of assistance to others in my previous profession. You can be assured that I will never shovel that roof again. But, if you have a flat tire or cat up a tree, call me!

Harry Libby

North Waterford