Friday, February 19, 2016

Rain. Really?

This morning I awoke to a strange sound.  Took me a few minutes to realize it was the sound of rain.

Whoa, Nellie!  Rain.  Really?

This is Minnesota.  This is February.  We should be hip deep in snow now.


Dad's car after a snowstorm in the early 1950s.

This is the land of winter carnivals and ice castles and snow sculptures.  We live and breathe ice fishing contests and snowmobile races.    This is the time of year when ski masks are used not to hide identity while robbing a bank but worn to keep faces from freezing off.  The season when by the time we bundle the kids up enough to send them outside to build a snowman, they have so many layers of clothing on they can barely walk.  That is a typical Minnesota winter.





I take a look out my living room window.  Any traces of snow have vanished.  There are puddles of water in the alley across the street.  The weather forecast tells me that by this afternoon the temperature will be nearing 50 degrees.  Predictions are for well above freezing temperatures for this coming week.

I am not complaining.  I am not fond of winter.  But I feel for those who count on a typical Minnesota winter to make their money.  The ski resorts and sellers of snowmobiles and snowshoes can't be doing well right now.  Those towns that host the usual winter celebrations and activities have to be hurting.  And the folks who spend a typical winter plowing and shoveling snow have to be having a really bad year.

And then I remember that winter here is not over - not by a long shot.  We still have March on the horizon.  March is the month where Mother Nature shows her mean side.  About the time we think Spring is just around the corner, a March blizzard will smack us upside the head and remind us that winter isn't done with us just yet.  Here we have the Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournament blizzards.  In the middle of the tournaments held in March each year, we could pretty much count on excessive snow and wind to either slow down the event or bring the games to a screeching halt.

 

So I guess I will wait a bit longer before packing away the wool socks and long johns.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if this warm weather spell is just Mother Nature's way of setting us up for another icy winter blast.  Some say Mother Nature has a sense of humor and I will agree with that notion.  However, that perverse sense of humor in the month of March usually doesn't bode well for we Minnesotans.

9 comments:

  1. It could be worse, you could live in Canada.

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  2. I'm sending the second photo to a former Minnesotan in Florida. lol

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  3. BWBandy...Judging by the photos on your blog, I don't think living in Canada would be worse! Many remind me of the northern part of my state. Beautiful!

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  4. Gorges...The scenes in those pictures probably explain why a Minnesotan moved to Florida. :)

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  5. My long departed grandmother was born in 1881 and was a pioneer into Ark.in an ox drawn wagon. She farmed most of her life and did "man's" work always. She told me to never trust winter until after Easter. This year Easter is March 27 so we should have a fairly early Spring. Sometimes the old sayings are true. Hang in there. Julia in Texas

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  6. A little more snow would be nice for those of us that depend on it to put dinner on the table. This is true for not only myself, but your grandson Chris as well.
    Plus, we do like to play in the snow and spend some time on the frozen lakes catching dinner.
    David

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  7. Julia...Your grandmother must have been an amazing woman. I think that often those sayings of our elders have a ring of truth to them. They learned much of what they knew by experience and listening to their parents and grandparents. Those of us who listened have benefited from their knowledge.

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  8. David...I was thinking about both you and Chris the other day when I saw the forecast for such warm weather. I imagine there have been other warm Februarys, but I can't remember any this warm here in Minnesota. As much as I dislike winter, I would rather see the snow, knowing that snow and cold are factors that keep my son and grandson employed, as well as so many others. I know how much your kids love to go out on the snowmobile and how much fun they have when you take them ice fishing. I just saw a news report where several vehicles fell through the ice at a fishing derby due to the warm weather compromising the thickness of the ice. Not good. Not good at all.

    Love, Mom

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