Saint Paul

Signs of spring

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Spring has arrived in the north, and we are marveling in it’s colors and textures. It is all a great awakening from the cold and quiet of winter. Spring rains have brought green to our grasses, and caused the flowers to open and burst into bloom. The daffodils, magnolias, and crocus are all basking in the warm sunshine. The rains have brought gentle showers and also thunderstorms that roll through quickly and seem to clear in an instant. If we’re fast enough and the conditions are right, they also grace us with wondrous rainbows of color – sometimes even complete double rainbows!

Snow sculpturing

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It’s Winter Carnival time in Saint Paul, Minnesota. But there are challenges to be met this unusual year. With temperatures in the 30s and 40s we are most un-winterlike. To date we have had a paltry 7.3 inches of snow, whereas last year we had already shoveled over 53 inches. We’ve had a couple of subzero temperatures, but not the norm. For those people, events, and businesses that rely on cold and snow this winter has been a bust so far. Many lakes are not completely frozen yet, and those lakes that are frozen do not have the ice thickness to support cars, trucks, and the permanent ice houses. Skiers are flocking to areas with man-made snow, ice fishers are only walking onto the ice to fish (if even that), and some pond hockey events have been cancelled.

As of today, the Winter Carnival is going ahead with their snow sculptures. There were not nearly as many groups sawing and shaping their blocks of snow when I was at the fairgrounds earlier, although I did see snow sculptors wearing short sleeve shirts and no jackets (which is a statement of itself about the current conditions).

In Winter Carnival legend, King Boreas presides over the winter world of Saint Paul. He declares ten days of celebrating all things cold and wintry which he oversees with his wife, the Queen of Snows. But on the final day, Vulcanus Rex, the god of Fire, and his Krewe subdue the cold with heat, spring and summer are welcomed, and they rule until the following year when King Boreas and winter return. This year it appears Vulcanus Rex has a head-start and King Boreas will be retreating much sooner than usual!

As we wait for spring

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Here in the north we are still waiting for spring’s arrival. Our skies have been gray, our temperatures have been 10-20 degrees below normal, and we’ve even had continuing frosts and snow. It’s been hard to keep our spirits up thinking that spring will not arrive in April but is holding off until sometime in May.

But there’s a lovely “cure” at the McNeely Conservatory in Como Park and it seems like everyone is making a mental-health trip to the conservatory. Spring is in bloom, with bright and lovely colors – reds, yellows, whites, pinks, and blues – and the scents of these blossoms float in the air. Everyone is smiling, taking photos of the colors with their phones, inhaling deeply, and spending time in the gardens trying to soak up the indoor promise of warmer weather.

Spring will come, although by now it may be fleeting. We may instead jump from winter to summer. But I’m sure we will all welcome the long-anticipated warmer weather and it’s accompanying blossoms and blooms.

A challenge accepted and the benefits gained

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Neighborhood walks have become my thing. And I’m only now realizing how important, and fun, they are for me. On Thanksgiving I read of a challenge for people to get outside for 30 minutes everyday for 101 days. That intrigued me and I realized that with my walking I cover a little less than two miles in 30 minutes. So I decided to challenge myself to walk two miles everyday until the end of the year. And then I saw that if I walked three or four miles for a dozen or so of those days I could reach 400 miles for the year of 2021. The goal was set and the challenge was on.

I started walking more regularly after I broke my leg in February 2020. My physical therapy was to get motion and movement to my ankle after the bones were pinned and screwed back together. Around the block was a challenge in those first months, but I stayed with it and went more blocks every few days. And with that increasing distance I learned and observed new things. This was near the beginning of our COVID-19 lockdown. I saw window signs of thanks to our front-line workers and I saw sidewalk chalk drawings of rainbows and better days. I walked through the months of signs about George Floyd and then election signs, both local and national. And I observed the Halloween decorations morph into Christmas lights and blowup Santas and snowmen, followed by the spring flowers, the green grass of summer, and the brilliance of fall leaves.

I don’t wear earbuds or headphones when I’m walking — I prefer to be open to the sounds and sights around me. I’ve heard the happy squeals of children out on the playground during recess and the honking of geese flying high overhead. I’ve seen eagles above me, the first spring crocus emerging from the snow, a nest full of robin’s eggs, and deer crossing the path ahead of me. I’ve learned how to dress for the different weather – a baseball hat for summer’s sun and a tightly knit fleece-lined beanie for winter’s cold; waterproof boots for rain and thickly lined heavy boots for snow. And I’ve used the time to think — to process things that are bothering me, to think of lessons learned from the past, and to dream of future adventures.

Yesterday was a busy and full day with a long list of things to be done. I was up early, shoveled the light snow that had fallen overnight, then made a quick trip to the grocery store. Things to be tidied up at home, a visit to a loved one in the hospital, and quickly the daylight was passing by and I hadn’t gone for my walk. A half hour before sunset and feeling a bit stressed I put on my boots, hat, gloves, and heavy coat and headed out the door. With each step I got out of my head and started to look around me. The fresh snow was still lovely on the ground, and as the sun was starting its descent to the horizon it spread its light all around. In the distance I could hear the wolves at the Como zoo howling and the squeals of children riding their sleds down the hills. As I walked near the golf course at Como Park I looked to the east and was greeted with a pale full moon rising over the snow covered hills. I saw a group of skiers that had stopped to take in the sight too. These are the moments of delight that get me out of the house on my walk each day. I returned home with a new attitude.

So I have 12 days remaining before year end and 19.9 miles to go. Plenty of time for more delight and joy and to think of new challenges for 2022.

After the summer storm

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With the heat of summer we often have storms develop in the late afternoon after the high temperatures have built up throughout the day. One early evening I walked south to Como Park but noticed a large and dark cloud to the northwest. It was threatening but there was clearing after it. When I reached the McNeely Conservatory the sun was just sliding below the cloud, it’s rays streaming and illuminating the sky above and the sun itself lit up the dome of the conservatory. It was a beautiful albeit fleeting moment. Sometimes we are put in just the right spot to see and appreciate the beauty around us, if we will only look for it and take it all in.