OK, I live in Minnesota. Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment? Because I love extreme temperature changes? Because my hot flashes actually do feel good? There really isn’t a good reason. I live here because I was born here and I will undoubtedly die hear. I have grown accustomed to dressing in layers. Most of the time I’m removing them because of my internal thermostat. I love the change of seasons, unfortunately winter is the longest one and often autumn and spring are overlooked entirely. Still there is the heat and humidity of summer. The brief season of new life in spring, when flowers bud and green is returning to the landscape. The beautiful color pallet of God as He dots the trees with extreme color. And then the winter of our life.
Winter in Minnesota usually arrives anywhere between October and December and stays with us through March and sometimes April. This year we’ve been spared huge amounts of snow, which is a plus for my husband, who has to shovel. We’ve had a few cold days, but nothing bad enough to freeze the pipes, but still cold enough to freeze my car. This week, winter returns with a vengeance. Today we have about 4″ of new fallen, fluffy snow. It’s beautiful. It covers all the ugliness of what lies below. It’s like a fresh coat of paint or a giant white quilt interspersed with diamonds.
Schools have been closed in the area or are running late. The wind is beginning to pick up and is expected to challenge drivers as they travel through blizzard conditions. Not only that, the thermometer may read -12 degrees, but it will feel like -45 to -65 below by tomorrow and remain for a couple days.
I would like to make a pitch for global warming, but it really doesn’t make much sense to me. I believe that God controls the weather as well as our environment. We can mess it up with our misuse of it from time to time, but in the end, God is still in charge. Besides if global warming is actually occurring, I will eventually be living in the garden spot of America, if I live that long.
By Saturday, the temperature is expected to hit +35. Go figure? This is why Minnesotans, Iowans and Wisconsinites are so resilient. We bounce back like a tire that needs inflating because it isn’t used for a while. Which also happened to my car last week.
It’s Monday. I don’t have to drive in this stuff. I don’t have to go to work. I can observe the beauty from my window. I’ve remained relatively healthy this year (I didn’t have a flue shot) and I thank God for giving me another day of life. Can’t get much better than that. Now if I could just train the dog to use the indoor plumbing.
atimetoshare.me 
We just got a little frost this morning 😁
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I’ve heard Minnesota’s climate described as “nine months of winter and three months of bad sledding.” J.
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That’s s good one. I’ll have to use it so
E time
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I love the picture. My wife had one notable hot flash. Since it was long before she started having ‘hot flashes’, the doctor called it a ‘thyroid storm.’ We were in our van in the late 80s. We were going to Columbia, SC for some mall shopping and to get out of town. Halfway there (a little over an hour drive), we hit a band of snow. The windshield froze over. Every time I turned on the Defrost, she turned it off and set the temperature to cool with the vents blowing on her. After about five or six resets of the Defrost, I said for her not to touch it or we would wreck – by this point, I could hardly see out the windshield at all. She said that she didn’t care. I told her to get in the back of the van where it was cool. At this point, our boys yelled, “It’s not cool. It’s freezing back here!” Of course, it was just barely freezing outside.
Stay in. Stay warm.
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It’s really not fun having those thyroid storms but it makes for good stories.
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Agreed. Once the storm was over, she was fine by the time she saw the doctor. Her levels had not returned completely to normal. It was years before she got an endocrinologist’s attention and started getting some help. Overweight women have to fight through the prejudice at times to get the doctor to think that this time it might just be the thyroid. Having a dead thyroid myself, I can sympathize. But since we did not wreck the van that day, I still love the story.
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It’s a good one❤️
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7 winters in Wyoming under my belt. I am glad to live in the South now, as I do not miss it.
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Whoa that deserves a medal!
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Or a warm blanket LOL
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Sounds like crazy cold! I have a daughter, who is a teacher, who lives up there too, and they were out of school today and for the next two days. Stay warm!
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You know it’s cold when they close schools for three days. Even the university of Minnesota is closing today. Our dog was. It thrilled about going out this morning either.
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