Snow began falling on Monday afternoon; then came the howling winds. High tide brought icy floodwaters to the harborfront and fierce waves lashed beaches and docks. Sometime in the middle of the night as temperatures dropped to the teens, power failed to the entire island.

For Nantucket, the loss of electricity turned this week’s harsh winter storm into a frightening reminder of the island’s isolation. With ferry service cancelled all day Tuesday, it took well over twenty-four hours before utility crews from the mainland could arrive. Internet, television and even cell phone service was interrupted. “You name it, we’re dealing with it,” Nantucket police chief William Pittman told the Boston Globe in the midst of the mess.

But here on the Vineyard, as the hard contours of the Island quickly disappeared under nearly two feet of falling and drifting snow, the blizzard known as Juno showed her softer side.

By the numbers, the storm was historic, with winds gusting up to seventy-seven miles per hour and official snow accumulation topping twenty inches. “It is safe to say this is probably one of the stronger winter storms you have seen on the Vineyard,” National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham told the Gazette.

Spared from major damage to the coastline, with few trees down and no loss of power or life, however, Vineyarders had reason to revel quietly in a magnificent display of New England winter weather. Efforts by NStar to improve power reliability, including the installation of oversized poles, were surely a factor.

For the most part the slow pace of January simply grew slower. Families who had earlier in the day stocked up on milk, batteries and snacks were tucked in their homes watching movies or playing games as the blizzard did its worst outside. More than a hundred clients of Meals on Wheels enjoyed meals delivered ahead of the storm.

Government offices and many businesses closed for a day or two; schools took a three-day hiatus. As the sun came out on Wednesday, Islanders emerged from their homes to shovel out themselves and their neighbors. Kids took to hillsides with sleds and toboggans. Walkers bundled in down jackets and bright scarves, many with dogs in tow, shared the narrowly plowed roads with an occasional four-wheel drive vehicle.

To be sure, it was a long night and day for highway crews and emergency personnel who stayed on the job for the duration of the storm, clearing roads and monitoring public safety. Nurses and doctors and other medical staff did double shifts at the hospital, where a baby was born at the height of the storm. At an emergency shelter at the Tisbury School, Red Cross workers and volunteers stood ready to receive the homeless; two people showed up. Across the Island, EMTs and paramedics were on call. Other Samaritans, like medical reservist Kristen Araujo who roamed the Island helping out, did what Vineyarders do when things get rough: look out for each other.

And by week’s end, with mountains of snow still unexcavated and another round of snow threatening, there was the inevitable grumbling around the Island about the pace of cleanup.

But this is, after all, winter on a small Island off the coast of Massachusetts, and it is hard to imagine a more perfect storm. Thanks to our local police, EMTs and other emergency workers, our medical personnel, community service workers, road crews and NStar, the company that supplies power, for enabling the rest of us to appreciate Juno.