winter contrast

I love the contrast of sleeping leaveless trees against the stark blue winter sky, even more so lately. The contrast is breathtakingly beautiful to me.

I snapped this shot last weekend as I took some wintertime portraits of my Uncle Chris, Aunt Kathy & Shadow the German Shepherd. We were at this location for the cityscape view. I love the blue hues in this and the contrast of the trees framing one side of the cityscape & my uncle, in his suspenders and plaid flannel framing the other.

See a this photo in larger form here.

xoxx

Winter Entertainment

We are all getting a little bit stir crazy as this winter has been impressively cold so far. When the first snow fell in mid December, I opened the door for the cats to go out as usual in the morning. It was a cold morning and I hadn't ever let them out in snow before. Asha, the braver of the two ran out as fast she could only to run right back in even faster. She hasn't mewed at the door since.

The last couple of days have brought us warm winter weather. Yesterday it reached a nice, balmy 30. We are in winter heaven. Today I opened the door for the cats to go out for the first time in over a month. They both came trotting along quite happily stopping dead in their tracks about a foot before the door. There is no path beyond the door, only a big snow drift from shoveling the walk. In unison, they crept up to it slowly and looked out sniffing the air with anticipation of what was out there.

Neither ever ventured into the snow, they only stood there and sniffed, almost falling over each other, for about five minutes. When I finally shut the door (we are not interested in heating the backyard after all) they ran about the house with the kind of energy burst that only comes from being outside (or sniffing the outdoorsy air). Darting in and out of rooms, leaping high over obstacles. If cats could laugh, ours would have been giggling incessantly.

And this, my non Minnesotan friends, is how we get through the winter. We entertain ourselves with stories of high snow drifts, cats who are afraid of it, and the excitement of a 30 degree day in January. All of which are incredibly amazing things, especially if you haven't been able to go outside comfortably in a month.

xoxx

wiMNter

This winter is truly winter. Only mid December & already subzero temperatures seem to be standard.
Tonight, it warmed up to 4. It felt warm enough to take our face masks off & walk from house to car to destination with out our eyelashes freezing. This doesn't typically happen until January.
I think it's going to be a cold, cold winter.
I'm not complaining. Not one bit. I kind of love it.
I don't love the bone chilling wind or feeling like my dace is going to fall off because it is so cold. I love the fact that 4 degrees feels warm to me & I find joy in wiping piles of snow off of our car in the morning.
xoxx

magical snow.

Snow. The magic of white flakes falling from the sky.
It is so very magical.
When my grandmother was living she always seemed to be so happy when the pretty white flakes feel from the sky, especially when they were those thick, tissue paper like kind that are so picturesque. Sometimes, when it snows I feel as though that is her way of saying hello & I try really hard to feel her presence.
This weekend it snowed overnight. I slept late & walked out of the house to meet Handsome Randy & there it was: SNOW! Not a lot, only enough to blanket the yard with a few fallen leaves poking through. But enough to make it officially winter in Minneapolis & celebrate my grandma's love for snow for a few moments while I relished her memory.
xoxx

only in minnesota

March 31, 2008

April 1, 2008

In Minnesota, March is a time of distress for us all. It has been winter for months and the snow is finally melting, teasing us for what inevitably lies ahead, when exactly is unknown. Sometimes it melts completely away and stays gone and spring begins. Other times the snow melts completely away with a couple of really nice, sunny days only to then be followed up with, I don't know, 8 inches of snow.

Yes this happens here. And when this happens everyone seems to be walking around with a scowl on their face because only two days before you could comfortably be outside in a t-shirt & now you have to wear your f**ing snow boots again.

Meanwhile, we're all chanting, In like a lion, out like a lamb. We are really counting on that lamb showing up sooner than later.

Snow typically does not happen past March 31. But this year it was snowing well into April. April 12 to be exact.

Yes, April 12. But then on April 13, it stopped and got sort of warm. But you don't want to get your hopes up because, well, it could snow again on April 14.

It didn't, and I don't think we'll see snow again until October or November. It was in the mid sixites and sunny today, so we might be out of the woods (though I'm not holding my breath).
Can you understand why midwesterners love to talk about the weather?

xoxx
p.s. Don't feel bad for me; I do seriously enjoy this aspect of my Minnesota residency.

what i wish.

i wish that it would stop being winter.

the snow melted last week, then it snowed what seemed to be a million and one inches the following day.

Currently, the snow is nearly gone again (as it should be; it's practically april), and what is tomorrow's weather forecast? SNOW.

xoxx

heat wave.

We have had a quite a cold spell here in Minneapolis in recent weeks. I think that most of January was spent in temperatures between 10 (yes, just plain old 10) and negative ___ (you fill in the blank). Add in the wind chill factor & your bones are even cold. Seriously.
I'm at the point in this season where I have stopped listening to the weather. I just know I need to wear thick black tights, a couple layers on top, and not to leave home without my mittens, hat and scarf or I'll be really sorry.

But the last couple of days have felt really warm. I even walked outside for a few blocks yesterday with my jacket unzipped and it felt really nice. I didn't really make a conscious thought of what the temperature actually was, I just knew it felt pretty warm in comparison to recent weeks.
Last night I was waiting on a group of people from Orange County, California. It was a beautiful night: huge snow flakes falling from the sky and pretty warm outside for winter, I thought. This group was sitting at a table surrounded by windows. At some point I encouraged them to enjoy the beautiful night. They stared at me blankly and one woman said, "Beautiful?! It's cold!"
"Do you think so?" I said.

She explained that they were from Orange County and that their hotel was 3 blocks away and the concierge encouraged them to walk and it was a tought experience. It is a short walk, three blocks. But not to 4 Orange County residents in 15 degrees.

Yes. This heat wave, this warm weather what I galavanted down the street with an unzipped coat and my hat and mittens in my bag was fifteen degrees.

xoxx

a mini-break in the great northwoods

Northern Minnesota is a magical place anytime of year. But the solitude & silence that one encounters way up there in the middle of winter almost makes the snow on the tree branches sparkle.

Handsome Randy & I spent a couple days in Grand Marais, MN earlier this week. We arrived on Monday evening just after everyone finished digging out of the two feet of snow that fell on Sunday. This gave us a beautiful backdrop as we snowshoed through a few state parks on Tuesday.

The weather was glorious: a warm 20 degrees with the lightest of snow falling. and we stayed in a lovely little cabin right on Lake Superior! It was an amazing & relaxing time with minimal cell phone service (very nice for a woman whose partner loves his blackberry) and a lot of scrabble and giggling.

xoxx


for more photos from our trip go here

*first snow*

I woke up this morning to a lovely snowfall. It snowed all day and into the night leaving us with a nice foundation of 5 - 8 inches for winter. how lovely.

This is the piece of winter that I love and appreciate more every year. The snow and what it brings out in people is quintessential to Minnesota. This morning when I pulled my sorels and trudged through the fresh snow I felt like I was earning my stripes. I don't think I'm alone in that.

And then there's the conversations with strangers you randomly have about the snow. Everyone has a story, whether it be about shoveling their car out this morning or how much snow their sister said she got up in Hackensack. It's fantastic, and every said conversation I overhear or partake in leaves me with a wide grin and happy to be living in Minnesota.

But what I love the most is the quiet that comes with a snowfall. You step outside and there's a quiet that is unlike any other kind. A soft crackling in the background as the snow continues to fall and settle in. Maybe a shoveler or two in the distance, but for the most part there is a soft and beautiful silence. This is remarkable and something that everyone can speak to. It almost makes you forget how cold it is. The winter activity I savor the most are late night walks after or during a snowfall. The snow sparkles as light hits it, the air is crisp and doesn't seem as cold as it truly is, and there is only the sound of snow. it takes your breath away.

xoxx

weathering the changes.

Spring & fall seem to bring me days filled with self deprication: my state of life, my weight, my checkbook, my car, my toenails! It's a little bit ridiculous & I am currently in the midst of it, though I think I'm almost out. Almost. That is as soon as it snows.

Summer & Winter bring two distinctive lifestyles for me and I tend to think of spring and fall as the warm up to them. I love summer, I love the feel of a hot, humid summer night more than anything (remember this post?). But I also love winter especially the nights quiet from snowfall. So what's the problem? Why is it so hard to adjust to changing seasons when for 24 of my 29 years I have lived through the entire cycle in the same place?

I have come to the conclusion (as I do every equinoxal season) that the changing of weather freaks me out. Change is good, it's essential and I know this. But coming from a place where our regional culture and conversation is quite centered around the weather it's no wonder the change of it has seeped into my psyche. I know I can't control when the last "good day" will be or when the first frost will happen, and that suspense is hard for me to swallow. I like patterns and habit. I like knowing when things are going to happen. For example, I really appreciate that it is typical for the 3rd week of January to be the coldest ever. I don't know that this is really accurate, but for over ten years I have told myself as much and it seems to be true. There will definately be a January where the 3rd week isn't the coldest and I'll live through it. But, in the mean time, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Because I can not be instrumental in the changes of weather I look inward at changes I can be such as those noted above. So I pick at myself and the things that I mean to work on all summer and get a little down about it. But, I'm almost through it, just as soon as it snows.
xoxx