Our Winter Wonderland

The snow and ice storms hitting the U.S. in the last few weeks have made the news worldwide. Of the six years that I have lived in Minnesota, this year has been the earliest that we have been hit with the snow and cold. It seems especially cold when you have a little baby to get bundled up! I never thought putting mittens on a little one could be so difficult. They ought to make that an American Gladiator or Survivor challenge. Forget this eating worms or knocking people off platforms with a foamed oar. This is the true test of survival in a harsh environment!

As you may have guess, I'm not a fan of winter. This time of year I often ask the Clever King just why we live in Minnesota. I then spend a lot of time explaining to him how, yes, there is snow and cold in Wisconsin, but it is DEFINITELY not as snowy and cold as it is HERE in southern Canada. This time of year, lots of other folks ask the Clever King why HE lives in Minnesota when he is from the island paradise of New Zealand, where it is rarely below 50 degrees (although furnaces are also rare there). He spends a lot of time explaining to them the merits of the States. We've collectively spent a lot of time the last few weeks shoveling the sidewalk so the wheelchair man can get through to church*, digging out cars, commuting home from work, and hunting down the last of the fresh apple cider in the local supermarkets.

Fresh apple cider may be the best part of late fall. CK has perfected the art of heating it in the microwave so it is just hot enough to burn your throat a little bit, but not hot enough to burn your mittenless hands off. One of our favorite mugs (meant for coffee but used for cider by us) has an excerpt from Garrison Keillor on it. It was given to us by an Australian friend one summer when he and his girlfriend (now wife) stayed with us. CK and I each clamor for this mug in the winter months because, when we are feeling sorry for ourselves, it reminds us of the expectations of being a Minnesotan in the winter. Here's what Garrison has to say:

"Growing up in a place that has winter you learn to avoid self-pity. Winter is not a personal experience, everybody else is as cold as you, so you shouldn't complain about it too much. You learn this as a kid, coming home crying from the cold, and Mother looks down and says, 'It's only a little frostbite. You're okay.' And thus you learn to be okay. What's done is done. Get over it. Drink your coffee. It's not the best you'll ever get but it's good enough."

Yes, Jack's first Minnesota winter has definitely arrived with a bang. On those few occasions that he has been out in the cold for the 15 seconds it takes to transport him from the house to the car and the wind hits his face, he takes a sharp little breath and looks at us as if to say, "Good God, people! What have you done with that warm cozy place where I spent nine months?" We tell him he's been fortunate to spend the first days of winter at home with Daddy, surrounded by radiators pumping out heat and soft, snuggly blankets wrapped around his little body. Soon enough, he will have to brave the cold each day to get off to daycare. With a Wisconsin mom and a Kiwi daddy, we'll have to see if he is tough enough for survival in the land of 10,000 (frozen) lakes. I'm betting he can make it.

*This stems from the times when we first moved into our house and we had disagreements about exactly how frequently and well the sidewalk needed to be shoveled. Nick often felt that it was "good enough" and I would respond that if he wanted to be the house in the neighborhood who had the sidewalk that kept the wheelchair man from getting to the church on the corner, that was fine with me. The (hypothetical) wheelchair man usually won.