The first day of spring…(We are up near Two Harbors on the shores of Lake Superior, and there is a snowstorm predicted for tomorrow!)
and it’s my birthday…70 years young…
God’s gifted me with a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior.
March 20
Tag: Snowstorms
The Storm is Over
Thursday morning the snow started to taper off mid-morning, and stopped before noon. The official snowfall total for Northfield was 15.1 inches over this three-day storm. That’s a lot of snow, but not a record. Now, this morning, it’s cold out there…below zero temperatures!
Thankfully we have a snow blower. With Gary behind the snow blower and me using shovels to clear out the front porch and short walkway, we make a good team, but he does the brunt of the work shoveling out.
We are also responsible to clear the public sidewalk along the east side of our house…Gary uses the snowblower for that.
It wasn’t too cold when we went out to clear snow. It went quickly. Then we wait until the snowplow comes along to plow the street and pushes a huge mound of snow back into our driveway. Gary goes out once again to plow it out…and the sidewalk entrance too. And so it goes.
The birdfeeders suctioned to our windows were full of snow. I saw a chickadee pecking through the snow to find seeds. I “spooned” out the snow and added fresh seed in the feeders.
The first day of the snowstorm we were on country roads driving home. It had been snowing for awhile and the wind was blowing across the fields making it low visibility and white-out conditions over the fields. At that time, it was just beginning to snow…I can only imagine what it is like out on open roads with much snow and wind.
It looks so innocent and serene looking out our windows.
Ah…Minnesota winters…not for the faint of heart.
Snow, and more snow
I’d be remiss not to post anything about our recent snowstorm, producing over twelve inches* of heavy, white snow…potentially dangerous to the trees, but so far our trees have survived.
Since we are retired and don’t have to drive in the snow, or work outside in it, or even leave the comfort of our warm home, it’s easier to say it’s beautiful!
Gary does get out to plow our own driveway and the public sidewalk that goes along the side of our house (sometimes I go out with a shovel to help).
I asked him if he wants to move to somewhere where it doesn’t snow, and he said only when he’s shoveling! ha
This snow clings to the branches, and everything, making an incredible winter wonderland for sure…the beauty can’t be denied.
Earlier in the week we tried “kicksledding” in fresh fallen snow…it was challenging but fun.
Then we settled into our house and let it snow, and snow some more.
*Weather.gov
Transition
After having spent over three weeks in North Carolina, having a wonderful time with family, we arrived back to Minnesota on Tuesday. In the snowstorm.
We left behind sunny and warm fall weather there.
Cold temperatures along with measurable amounts of snow on the driveway greeted us here, back home in Minnesota…hmmm…it’s a tough reality. We’ll make the transition, but it’s hard.
We flew back to Minnesota on Tuesday evening. Our scheduled arrival time was 1:30 pm. Before we left for North Carolina, we had arranged for friends to pick us up. Little did we know it would be in a snowstorm.
They left Northfield early to make sure they got to the airport in time. It took them two hours to drive the normal one-hour drive. It was snowing and windy and not great driving conditions. They arrived in time for the 1:30 arrival time and parked at the cell phone lot. When they left home our flight status had not changed, so they were still expecting us at 1:30 pm.
In the meantime, we were in the Charlotte airport waiting in the rocking chairs available for passengers, and being serenaded by piano music.
Our flight left Charlotte on time and we had a smooth ride, but as we got closer to Minneapolis the pilot announced we had been put in a holding pattern while they plowed the one runway that was still open at MSP. Then they closed that runway. So, our plane was diverted to Milwaukee for fuel. Everyone got off the plane in Milwaukee while we waited for updated information. Other flights to MSP flying out of Milwaukee were being canceled. We were concerned ours might be too, and we’d be spending a night at the Milwaukee airport. But finally, they had us reboard the aircraft and we were able to fly into MSP, after they opened the runways again. By now it’s 5:40 pm.
Then, we were stuck in the plane because there wasn’t an available gate agent to open the doors and let us out. That took another half hour. Finally, we were in the airport terminal and we retrieved our luggage. Our dear friends, bless their hearts, waited for us the whole time, in the cell phone lot! That was indeed an act of faithfulness, and we were so grateful!
Now, the driveway has been plowed, and the house temperature warmed up and we’re settling in for the next few months of winter. (Maybe a couple get aways to warmer climates will be forthcoming…)
Lake Superior in March
I always thought it would be fun to be at safely tucked into a cabin on Lake Superior during a November gale. At a previous cabin we rented years ago, the owners had recorded, on VHS, a November storm that we could watch while staying at the cabin. It was always intriguing to see how incredibly high those waves came slamming into the cliffs at that resort.
We just came back from a couple days on the north shore, safely tucked into a cabin on Lake Superior during a March snowstorm. The waves came slamming into the rocky shore sending up sprays of water into the air.
The lake was full of white caps and the waves coming to shore were huge. Not like a November gale, but still a memorable snowstorm for us.
We managed to get in a hike that morning before the predicted storm. It was fun to walk along the lake, through trees, and we were delighted to find little gnomes along the trail. Three times we came upon these little trolls, cheering us on.
Once back in our cabin we settled in for the rest of the day, and the storm. It was cozy. The snow started falling and the wind was whipping and churning up the lake as we sat indoors, by a nice crackling fire and watched it unfold through the large patio doors overlooking the lake. The amount of snow that fell was not what was predicted, but the wind was wicked, and the lake turbulent.
Last year when were we up at this same resort on the north shore in March, the temperatures were in the 50’s and 60’s. This year the temps were in the 30’s with wind chill temps even lower. But no matter what, Lake Superior is my happy place and it was great to be on the shore once again.
Driving Back Home
We left North Carolina early Thursday morning to start our journey back to Minnesota. We planned a new route home, because we wanted to see a part of Mississippi.
We wanted to stop there because there are only two states I do not recall having been in…Idaho and Mississippi. Since Mississippi seemed a reasonable distance to include on our trip home (Idaho, of course, was not!) we decided it would be fun to stay overnight in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Therefore, on Thursday we drove from North Carolina, through South Carolina, through Georgia and through Alabama to Mississippi. We stopped at the birthplace of Elvis, a must-see attraction in Tupelo, before checking into our hotel…then we went out for dinner. It was a pleasant day.
The next morning we drove on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444 mile national scenic byway, that goes through three states.
The road roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace” a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, European settlers, slave traders, soldiers and a few presidents. It has a lot of history to tell, dating back to the late 1700’s.
We drove on the parkway for thirty miles before getting off to head towards Kentucky. There was another attraction we wanted to see on our way back to Minnesota…the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.
The quilt museum was interesting. I have more thoughts and photos to share in an upcoming post.
Our third morning was a bit different than the others. We spent the night near St. Louis, Missouri, and woke up to a snowstorm (unusual amounts expected for this part of the country). We got an early start, but it was slow going the first few hours, until we drove out of the storm and the roads cleared up.
As we checked out that morning in St. Louis, the clerk at our hotel gave us a blessing for our safety while traveling through the snow…she was a kind-hearted woman and a delight. It felt right, and special, to start our journey that day with her blessing.
We were thankful we made it back to Minnesota safely.