All around Mid Argyll this past week, communities have shown what they are made of amid the eye of the storm and the aftermath – and they are made of the finest stuff.
Acts of bravery, endurance and good fortune attracted the most headlines, but the kindness and hospitality shown to strangers were equally noteworthy.
Hundreds of travellers and motorists found themselves stranded in our small villages and towns as major landslides closed roads for long periods.
For many travellers, this is a scary prospect.
However, community leaders quickly realised the severity and scale of the situation.
They organised quickly, called in favours from friends, and threw open the doors of their village halls and homes for shelter and provided food, drink and sustenance.
Lochgilphead Joint Campus was made available as a shelter thanks to quick thinking by Argyll and Bute Council and the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). About 40 people used the facility.
In Inveraray, Church of Scotland minister Dorothy Wallace led an impressive effort to host the stranded travellers with food, drinks and heat.
In Furnace, about 30 stranded people were looked after in the community hall and some were put up for the night by villagers.
Communities also had to be creative in looking after their own.
In Craignish, people who took up roles during the pandemic are being asked to take up similar roles while the A816 is closed.
And the community council has set up an arrangement with a local courier service to receive all Ardfern parcels at a central hub in the village.
Necessity is the mother of invention – and in the past week that old proverb has been shown to be as relevant as ever.