I blame Hurricane Katrina. That's when weathermen realized they liked being the center of attention, wielding all kinds of power over the populace. Since then, every time it rains, snows, gets hot or cold, it's climate armageddon, so pardon me if I don't panic. I used up all my panic back in 2001. I think it was in September...
The snow began falling around noon on Friday. The forecast warned that we'd get between 5-8 inches. We were ready: both snow blowers gassed up and ready, shovels at strategic points in the yard, the snow rake and extension ladder ready for me to clear the roof and a fridge full of food so we wouldn't have to leave the house all weekend.
Then we got a text from some friends from Montana. On an extended road trip, they planned on hitting town in the early evening and wondered if we'd like to meet them for dinner? Well HELL YES! So out we went, into the teeth of the storm.
Driving downtown while it's snowing isn't really the same as taking your life in your hands and tempting death but you'd never know it by listening to the news. We avoided the highway, took snow emergency routes, which we knew would be plowed and got to our favorite restaurant (JD Hoyt's) without mishap. Our friends arrived soon and we proceeded to have a great time. There was very little traffic on the roads and the dining room was not as packed as it usually is on a Friday but we were by no means the only patrons out for a delicious dinner. There are still a few Minnesotans who know how to drive in the snow.
Driving home, it wasn't really snowing anymore but the air seemed to be misting, which was sort of worse, as it turned to ice on everything. The driving on Saturday was exponentially worse than it had been in the midst of the snowfall, which was closer to 5" than 8".
We could have stayed home on Saturday, hunkered down like we'd originally planned but we realized we hadn't seen Xena, Babalouie and Kitten since Christmas, which is way too long. So instead of playing it safe and hiding from the elements, as the powers that be (weathermen) instructed, we made the trip out to the spread for dinner. The roads were horrendous! Very icy. We never even tried to go over 45 mph, gave everyone plenty of room to stop and saw 7 vehicles in the ditch on our way out to Ty's place.
It was totally worth it to see the kids!
We didn't stay too late; we were home by 8:00.
Monday was MLKjr day, so Jay didn't have to go to work. We walked around the lake in the afternoon, when the temp hit the day's high. The park board plows the bike path, so that's where everyone walks. Plenty of bikers have snow tires, so we shared the path. It's not a problem since only a fraction of the people walk in winter as summer. I love getting out into the cold; it's exhilarating. As with so many other things in life, it's all about having the proper wardrobe. We started around 3:30, when the sun was already heading into it's downward slope. We noticed a gorgeous phenomenon: the mist of Friday night had coated the tree tops in a very thin veneer of ice. It was unnoticeable unless viewed from just the right angle, with the sun behind it but if you saw it from that angle, the topmost tips of the trees glittered like crystal! When we reached the north beach, the sun was low enough behind the west hill to reveal the entire bank of trees there to be covered in just enough ice to make it glow like the forest was glass, with the sun setting behind it. Breath taking!!
After we walked, we stopped at an Italian deli right off the lake and bought some sausage for spaghetti sauce for dinner. At home, I had a cup of cocoa while Jay made the sauce.
It was a perfect winter weekend.