Sunday, November 23, 2008
Ahh...Minnesota
Life in Minnesota is becoming more and more ordinary. We have been here 2 and a half years, and I think we are starting to feel more as though this is our home, and not just another stop on our way to an eventual home. Over the last two days, several things have come up that remind me why I love it here and why it is like no other place:
-We quite probably beat a single day record in sales at our store on Saturday, as Thanksgiving shoppers, undeterred (or maybe brought to us) by the economic crisis, proceeded to buy more turkeys, potatoes, Charles Shaw wine and other goodies than ever. This was aided by weather in the 30's, which allowed us to use our loading dock as an outdoor refrigerator for our cold produce.
-As I left work, I was greeted in the car by the strains of Garrison Keillor on the radio. As I listened to his musings on the tundra of Minnesota and the white blanket of snow that greeted him in St. Paul on Saturday morning, I did not need to imagine it...all I had to do was look out my window.
-The political atmosphere here remains electric as the senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman continues through the recount. Right now, Coleman holds a 180 vote lead (that's 180, not 1800 or 18000), and we are all bracing ourselves for the legal battles as these two shameless scavengers beat each other to a metaphorical bloody pulp over the right to "represent us".
-As we made our way to church this morning, we took our normal route. This route takes us over the Mississippi River by Fort Snelling (the mid-1800's military outpost which was a part of the formation of this city). As we approached the river, a brown figure darted across our eye line, and Stephanie and I both realized that it was a bald eagle. It's wing span was wide and majestic, and it was an amazing sight, since I had never yet seen one outside of a zoo.
-We drove through Downtown St. Paul tonight, and the winter shows signs of beginning. The ice rink is going up again in front of Landmark Center, and the lights arond the center are beginning to go up. I can't wait until the tree is lit in Rice Park...it is a sight.
As the winter approaches and the first great holiday of the cold season comes on Thursday, the warmth of our home is always more pronounced than ever. The endless rows of glowing windows that I drive by as the sun sets at 4:30 PM warm the heart each year. Summer in Minnesota truly is a thing of glory, not to be missed. And while I do not look forward to the sub zero days that lay before me, those days in the teens, 20's and 30's that get me into my scarf, coat and bomber hat still awake something unique within me. How can home be so comforting and warm without winter? And how can the cocoa taste as good were it not immediately proceeded by a dive into the snow bank?
-We quite probably beat a single day record in sales at our store on Saturday, as Thanksgiving shoppers, undeterred (or maybe brought to us) by the economic crisis, proceeded to buy more turkeys, potatoes, Charles Shaw wine and other goodies than ever. This was aided by weather in the 30's, which allowed us to use our loading dock as an outdoor refrigerator for our cold produce.
-As I left work, I was greeted in the car by the strains of Garrison Keillor on the radio. As I listened to his musings on the tundra of Minnesota and the white blanket of snow that greeted him in St. Paul on Saturday morning, I did not need to imagine it...all I had to do was look out my window.
-The political atmosphere here remains electric as the senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman continues through the recount. Right now, Coleman holds a 180 vote lead (that's 180, not 1800 or 18000), and we are all bracing ourselves for the legal battles as these two shameless scavengers beat each other to a metaphorical bloody pulp over the right to "represent us".
-As we made our way to church this morning, we took our normal route. This route takes us over the Mississippi River by Fort Snelling (the mid-1800's military outpost which was a part of the formation of this city). As we approached the river, a brown figure darted across our eye line, and Stephanie and I both realized that it was a bald eagle. It's wing span was wide and majestic, and it was an amazing sight, since I had never yet seen one outside of a zoo.
-We drove through Downtown St. Paul tonight, and the winter shows signs of beginning. The ice rink is going up again in front of Landmark Center, and the lights arond the center are beginning to go up. I can't wait until the tree is lit in Rice Park...it is a sight.
As the winter approaches and the first great holiday of the cold season comes on Thursday, the warmth of our home is always more pronounced than ever. The endless rows of glowing windows that I drive by as the sun sets at 4:30 PM warm the heart each year. Summer in Minnesota truly is a thing of glory, not to be missed. And while I do not look forward to the sub zero days that lay before me, those days in the teens, 20's and 30's that get me into my scarf, coat and bomber hat still awake something unique within me. How can home be so comforting and warm without winter? And how can the cocoa taste as good were it not immediately proceeded by a dive into the snow bank?
# posted by Unknown @ 8:16 PM 
