Winter arrived in the Twin Cities this past week when seven inches of snow came blowing in on 20 mph winds. The temperatures dropped and the snow fell. It had us all remembering how to drive in snow and slush, how to shovel our walks and drives without hurting our backs, and it sent us scurrying to find our winter clothes and toys. The sleds, skies, and snowshoes all came out of the closet this past week in a flurry of snowy activity. However…there were some creatures that were found to be resting up for future activities. The reindeer know that their big night is coming up in a couple of weeks, and although the snow is here there is much preparation that needs to be done. Food must be eaten to gain strength, and rest is essential in order to have the energy to deliver Santa around the globe on his yearly mission. And so this reindeer is doing when needs to be done, knowing that the upcoming job is a big one, and Santa is relying on each reindeer to be in top physical and mental shape.
Photography
Winter’s arrival
Winter has arrived this week, and with it so many changes. For the past six days, our temperatures have stayed below freezing. We’ve had some blowing snow, although not enough to cover the grass. But the cold weather is now allowing Mother Nature to ice over our lakes and ponds. Many of the Canada geese are flying high in the sky, heading south to warmer climes. Whereas before we heard their calls in the early morning and before sunset, now they are continuous throughout the day as they journey away in large flocks before the winter becomes harder and colder. What waterfowl remain, find it slippery going on the once-liquid lakes. Soon the transition to winter will be complete and we will revel in her white and shimmering beauty.
A hike on the prairie
This past weekend found us traveling south to Kansas to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. Looking for a way to enjoy the unseasonably warm and sunny weather, we ventured west from the Kansas City area to Manhattan, Kansas. After driving into the Flint Hills we came upon the Konza Prairie, a preserve of The Nature Conservancy that is managed as a biological station by Kansas State University. The late fall colors were golden across the 8600 acres of the prairie. It was a joy to hike through this area surrounded by a sea of grasses blowing in the wind, as they must have done when the early settlers came through this same land hundreds of years ago.
Harvest and Thanksgiving
Yesterday I was south of the Cities near the town of New Trier, Minnesota. This is a beautiful farming area with an abundance of rolling hills. The harvest has been late this year, hampered by rain and cooler temperatures. But on this unusually sunny and warm day there was much activity in the fields — something for which many farmers were quite thankful. As we head into the week of Thanksgiving I’m focusing on the bounty of my life and all those things I have to be thankful for: a roof over my head and a job, plenty of good food to eat, good health, good friends, good family, and a wonderful freedom we enjoy in this country. May we all realize the good fortune we have.
A personal bicycling milestone
This past week marked a new milestone for me, one I wouldn’t have imagined at the beginning of the year. On Wednesday I took advantage of a warm late-fall afternoon to complete an 18-mile bicycle ride on the Gateway Trail on the outskirts of Saint Paul. By completing this ride I have now ridden 1,500 miles this year — an amount that far exceeds anything I’ve ever done. All those miles have been filled with new sights, adventures, and shared conversations. The ones early in the year were done in training for the Bike Across Kansas, and the ones at the end of the summer and into the fall were for the exercise and the enjoyment of riding. I can’t predict how many miles I’ll traverse next year, but I know these 1,500 miles have plenty of enjoyable memories to carry me through the winter and have me looking forward to new bicycling adventures starting next spring.
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