This week was the beginning the St. Paul Winter Carnival, a true celebration of all things having to do with winter. And this year the weather has cooperated in fine fashion (some might even say it’s been a bit too cold). In past years some of the events have had to be cancelled or shortened because of warming temperatures, but that isn’t an issue for us now. The snow sculptures were being carved yesterday as I wandered around the Minnesota Fairgrounds. This huge sculpture was especially popular for photographs, with the St. Paul Winter Carnival emblem in the center, surrounded by all sorts of cold-weather creatures and beasts. There were even some “tools of the trade” – chests of saws and chisels – that were still being used for touch up. The celebration continues through next weekend (although I truly believe winter will be lasting much longer than that!).
snow
Watching the winter sunset
The days are short and the nights are long in our Minnesota-part of the hemisphere. After a stretch of sub-zero days, and the prediction of more to follow, yesterday was a breath of warmer air. Our highs reached into the 40’s and brought people outside as if it were late springtime. I was at Como Park to enjoy the late afternoon and watched this couple as they lingered over the early sunset. The shadows ran long across the snow but their spirits were high as they laughed and encouraged a man who was drilling holes in the ice for fishing. The sun set quickly, darkness took over, the wind picked up, and as predicted the temperatures fell to subzero overnight. Our respite was short but gave us the hope of warmer days in the distant future.
Holiday wishes
My wishes for you this holiday season: a feeling of wonder at the beauty around us, an appreciation of the family and friends we hold dear, a remembrance of those people no longer in our lives physically, and a sense of joy and happiness kept within our hearts not only during the holidays but each and every day too. Merry Christmas!
Brightness of a winter morning
Our landscape is white and the skies have been quite gray and overcast – the gun-metal gray of winter. The days are short and the darkness sometimes seems especially long. This morning I got up before dawn and was drinking my coffee and reading the newspaper. I eventually looked up and noticed the brightness of the morning had started to take over the black sky. As I stepped out the front door, the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds caught my eye; it was a beautiful contrast and a welcome splash of color that we had been missing the past week. The trees are leafless structures now, thrusting their branches up and out, and the cotton-like clouds seemed to be catching on the branches of the tree as they were moving by.
A week’s slide into winter
Our landscape that was brown and cold last week has been transformed into winter. Daytime temperatures in the single digits, subzero temps at night, and snow have brought the look and feel of winter. Ponds and lakes that were previously frozen with clear ice are now covered with snow, and are once again being populated with fish houses. The ducks and geese have all headed south in search of open water. And we are learning again how to drive in ice and snow. How quickly this seasonal change has taken place!
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