Really, though, I’m looking forward to winter. Last year,
after five years of trying, I persuaded my southern Minnesota husband
that those endless snowfalls in Duluth were not a fluke. It’s just too
hard, I argued, to shovel again and again and again. Our driveway kept
narrowing to a one-car tunnel to the garage by March. So we bought a
snowblower in the middle of last winter when prices are peak and all of
the other foolish people exhausted from shoveling buy their
snowblowers. (Seems to me that same “we can stick it out” attitude had
us buying fans during a heat wave in summer.)
Anyway, we got the new machine, figured it out, fired it up …
and used it only once because darned if it didn’t stop snowing for the
entire rest of the season. What a fluke.
Bob didn’t say, “I told you so.” It was implied.
Instead of blowing snow, we had to figure out how to
“preserve” the blower’s gasoline or burn it off before shoveling the
machine away for summer. (Apparently gasoline is something to worry
about in your lawn mower, too. Who knew?)
This winter I’m counting on enough snow to give true value to
last year’s “impulse” purchase. After reading Paul Lundgren’s
tongue-frozen-into-cheek story - Go Ahead & Love Winter - about
ways to enjoy the cold and snow, I’ve got some other aspirations, too.
I may hire a crew from Michigan Tech University to build a snow mansion
in my yard, for example.
Another great way to spend winter, found in the pages of this
issue, is to bundle up and head to the Italian Village for the food and
family stories offered by owner Kathy Resberg. I’ve met Kathy; she is
warm and friendly - perfect company during a blizzard. I advise every
reader to find a nice Italian place to hang out and eat, which is
possible in most Lake Superior towns. It might be better simply to
become Italian, but I’m going to have to ask Kathy about how a French
Canadian-Swede goes about that. Could be a winter project.
Finding open water is yet another great winter escape.
“Splish-Splash” in the Lodging & Restaurants Guide identifies water
parks and slides where you can find open water even on days with 2
inches of ice on the windshield.
All in all, by the time you read this issue, you’ll have so
many ideas for taking advantage of the season that you’ll be wishing
winter could last longer than a mere seven - or eight - months. (You
can never really count on June.)
Konnie LeMay
Editor
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