I'm a Minnesota Girl! Born and raised here, married a Minnesota guy and raised two boys here. I went to college across the border in Wisconsin and lived in Colorado for a year after college but after that I moved back home. Minnesota is my home and there is no more beautiful state.
In 4rth grade we sang a song about Minnesota that went like this,
" They took 10,000 lakes and some rich green land
And threw in some hills that they had on hand
And made it a paradise but twice as grand
And named it Minnesota".
Minnesota IS paradise and it embodies the best of all 4 seasons. And we relish every single one of them. They are all glorious and spectacular. But for us Minnesotans it all starts with weather.
We are obsessed with the weather! We need to know what the weather is 49 times a day. And our local TV stations spend 10 minutes of the 30 minute news telling us what's going to happen, what did happen, what might happen, where it happened before it will happen to us, where it's happening after it happens to us, and how to prepare for all these weather happenings. I get more juiced up listening to the weather report than I do the news! I love me a good blizzard! I get all twitchy and excited over a severe thunderstorm. I am outside watching the green skies and waiting for the wind to come. With blizzards the nesting instincts kick in. I've got to go to the store and buy 49 times more food, toilet paper and wine than you will ever need or use in 10 years. ( God forbid there's a blizzard and you are out of wine - you might be holed up say for 2 days!)
Every time they predict major snow, I'm out with everyone else before "It hits!" buying all the mentioned essentials plus some candy, gotta have candy too. Oh and popcorn and Doritos and peanut butter in case the power goes out. This drives my husband nuts. We've been stuck in 20" of snow shoveling out the tires in 40 MPH winds because we didn't have enough breakfast cereal. Four boxes wasn't enough. We've shoveled other cars out of the snow who like us needed more of something they had 10 of at home. We are kindred spirits! And when the kids were younger we bought games and books and new action figures- and flashlight batteries - lots of flashlight batteries in case the power went out. Because we have 49 flashlights and they ALL have to work in case we need them. This is a major event! I'd come home after spending hundreds of dollars on all the essentials and would be downright mad if the storms passed over or fizzled out. I felt cheated! How dare the skies do this! And then a couple weeks later when bad weather was predicted again I'd go out again and stock up forgetting I still had my stash from the last storm - except the wine was gone hehe. We have enough toilet paper for 49 years of storms! (I like the number 49 )
Oh and when they predict 30 below windchill that's when it's really fun! You can't run 10 feet to your mailbox without your nostrils freezing! You almost run while holding your breath. You have to work yourself into it. You warm up your car for 10 minutes before you drive it. You've never seen a dog pee so fast. Your furnace never stops running. And God forbid it does stop as in it's broken. Because you are waiting days before a technician gets to your house. See why the wine comes in handy :) When the temps hit 20 below that's when school closes here. But this kind of cold never lasts too long. We are very proud of how hardy the cold makes us. We are still in shorts until it hits 35 degrees. And you can't forget the polar plunges all across the state. Seemingly sane people jumping into frozen lakes. And alot of babies are born in August, September and October. That's when mine were born.
One perk about the cold is my garage becomes a freezer. I never have to put groceries away. Just carry them into the garage and they are good until spring thaw. I once bought 2 frozen turkeys on sale after Thanksgiving and left them in the garage all winter. Forgot I had them because they were surrounded by 49 frozen pizzas. I realized they were thawing in April and cooked up two 22 pound birds. We had turkey oh man did we have turkey. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I've learned my lesson on sale turkeys and sale pizzas and using my garage as a freezer. What's sad is I have 2 freezers and both were full - you know, with storm provisions!
There is nothing more soothing than sitting by a peaceful fire hearing the wind howl and snow blow sideways with my glass of wine listening to my kids fight over the new games and action figures. Having them shine the flashlights into our eyes and blind us in the dark when the power went out in a thunderstorm. Listening to my 90 pound dog cry and shiver under the bed upstairs at every bolt of lightening and thunder. I's have to lay on the floor with him and cover us entirely with a blanket. The only way I could calm him down. And what is funniest - we'd watch the weather on our TV while it's going on outside! ! You know in case it changed! In case it got worse! In case we miss something! You can never have too much weather! Fighting, flashlights, scared dogs. Weather inside - weather outside. Oh what entertainment! And it's free! Well kind of ;)
We've lost power in the summer and decided we needed a generator. Finding a generator after a storm hits is impossible but we got the last one somewhere. Mind you it had a dent - was off in some store corner ready to be returned to the manufacturer but we got a deal and it does the job! We had neighbors from 3 houses use extention cords so they wouldn't loose food in their freezers. I had ours hooked up to the one freezer we had at the time and a coffee pot. A girl has her priorities.
We help each other with snow removal whether it's a neighbor who doesn't have snowblower or a car stuck in the ditch. We all travel with shovels in the trunk. But tornados are the worst. And we all take them seriously. I poke fun on getting ready for this weather but I've never seen a twister up close and I pray I never do. So I give to the Red Cross because they are the first responders to families who have been devastated by these monsters. And I can only imagine what's its like to loose everything.
But out of all this crazy I have sons who were never afraid of storms as kids. We told them every loud clap of thunder was God bowling in the heavens and getting a strike. They embraced the gray skies with wonder and couldn't wait to get all geared up and romp in the 49" of snow that was left after a good winter storm. They know how to be over prepared! We made it an adventure and it still is to this day.
I have watched the movie Twister a gazillion times and still get a weather rush. Sirius radio used to have a channel with Minneapolis weather. I'd listen to that all the time in the car. But now it's gone. What's up with that! We talk about the weather in every conversation. It's what starts our day and we go to bed knowing what weather tomorrow brings.
Yes we Minnesotans do love our weather. Even our beloved musicians use weather for inspiration. Think Purple Rain. I love our Minnesota weather and will always look forward to tomorrow's forecast. It's my daily adventure ;)
