The North Ends’ snowfall for the ages makes most of us want to hunker down in our homes with well-stocked pantries and firewood at the ready.

While this winter storm has certainly packed a wallop — more than 12,000 Puget Sound Energy customers (more than three fourths of whom were in Kitsap County) were without power; city and county offices open late and close early; Kitsap Transit busses are running on limited schedules; ferry schedules are disrupted.

These are challenging and diverse times.

It’s in times like these when unsung heroes rise from the snowdrifts and make life liveable for the rest of us.

First and foremost, in case anyone hasn’t noticed, the Kitsap County road crews have been operating snowplows around the clock. In temperatures that have hovered in the low- to mid-20s, these dedicated men and women have put duty — and public safety — above all else.

We can only hope these folks are being compensated adequately for their efforts and for the time they’re spending away from their families and nice, warm houses. Normally, public salaries are studied and scrutinized, but we’d agree the snow plowers should be making roughly the same as our three county commissioners.

By Tuesday morning, the county’s main thoroughfares were easily and well-traveled.

Sand strewn on the roads supplied proper traction for many a wary and cautious driver to make it to their destination and safely home.

Were it not for the men and women snowplowing and sanding the county roads at all hours of the day and night, Snowpocalypse 2008 would have brought life to a screeching halt.

Mail carriers and bus drivers deserve kudos as well. Thank you for keeping the world moving when the weather is doing its best to make the world stop.

Everyday heroes are also doing their share. From 4×4 drivers pulling hapless motorists out of snowbanks to those two glorious Good Samaritans who spent an hour helping our staff writer Jennifer Morris put chains on her car Monday night, without your gracious acts, this winter storm would pack a mightier punch.

For anyone who has helped another or done something to make life easier for the rest of us, be it your job description or not, thank you.

One final thank you to all of you out there who braved the snow and bitter cold and embraced it as an opportunity to cast adulthood aside.

Life can’t always be serious.

Of particular note were Justin and Sophia Lauritzen, a father/daughter duo sighted in their front yard on Sixth Avenue building an amazing snow fort. It was, simply put, a father and daughter spending time together — no television, no computer, just each other and a lot of creativity.

Thank you for reminding us how simple life can be. May we learn from your example.