We've made a dent in January and February is a short month. These are things a northerner tells oneself to cope with a harsh winter. After almost a decade of less than normal winter weather, Minnesota is experiencing a return to our regular climate. It started abruptly in November with an early heavy wet 8 in. blanket of snow weeks before Thanksgiving. We had not had snowy day of thanks in years.
December was cold and we had record breaking amounts of snow. Weather statistics have been kept for about a hundred and thirty years. Overcoverage on TV news had us almost cheering for that extra inch of snow to break the old record leading me to believe that cold, snowy weather causes madness.
Hear we go. Old and crazy and cacooning. Better plan a winter get-away. We looked at our options and I began to campaign for a road trip to the gulf states. Go south to Louisiana and eat crawdads in Cajun country. Explore the coast along Mississippi and Alabama. Perhaps a nice ocean side rental in the Florida panhandle for a few weeks. I solicited friends from New Hampshire to join us. I found nice pictures on the internet of white sandy beaches to try to convince my husband. It had possibilities.
Everything changed this weekend when the second big winter ice / snowstorm hit that region.
Six southern states are hunkered down waiting for the ice and foot of snow to melt. They don't have our fleet of snowplows or our enormous stashes of salt and sand. They just stay indoors until it disappears. Only the children are thrilled with snow days that cancel school and let them go sledding.
December was cold and we had record breaking amounts of snow. Weather statistics have been kept for about a hundred and thirty years. Overcoverage on TV news had us almost cheering for that extra inch of snow to break the old record leading me to believe that cold, snowy weather causes madness.
Hear we go. Old and crazy and cacooning. Better plan a winter get-away. We looked at our options and I began to campaign for a road trip to the gulf states. Go south to Louisiana and eat crawdads in Cajun country. Explore the coast along Mississippi and Alabama. Perhaps a nice ocean side rental in the Florida panhandle for a few weeks. I solicited friends from New Hampshire to join us. I found nice pictures on the internet of white sandy beaches to try to convince my husband. It had possibilities.
Everything changed this weekend when the second big winter ice / snowstorm hit that region.
Six southern states are hunkered down waiting for the ice and foot of snow to melt. They don't have our fleet of snowplows or our enormous stashes of salt and sand. They just stay indoors until it disappears. Only the children are thrilled with snow days that cancel school and let them go sledding.
Some Minnesotans handle winter better than others. They ski, slide, ice fish or snowmobile. The rest are at risk for cabin fever. At risk for delusions of snowmen peeking in their windows.
Maybe that is how Minnesota will solve it's fiscal problems. We can sell snowmobiles, parkas and skis in the south. They may need our advice to handle difficult winters and learn to enjoy the snow. They better watch out if they start wishing for that extra inch of snow to set new records.
Photo: credit to son Andy who built this with his college buddies a few years ago.
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