The Fun Of Flying Kites

In the winter, the natural parks in the Twin Cities quadruple in size. The lakes freeze over and become a winter play land for all the residents.

Today was the Lake Harriet Kite Festival, an event I've often learned out about too late, after we already had other plans, or when the weather was so bitterly cold that we didn't brave it to attend.

This year, it was a balmy 29 degrees, cloudy with a brisk wind. Perfect kite-flying weather in Minnesota.

Marissa and I dropped Lindsey off at a sleepover, made a little stop at a Caribou for some treats, then headed to the lake. We pulled snow pants and snow bibs over our clothes, tightened up the laces on our winter boots, pulled our scarves up and our hats down and headed out.

Even at 29 degrees, it feels much, much cooler when you're standing on an ice-covered lake.

Marissa has never stood on a frozen lake before. She was nervous about whether or not the ice would hold her, but when she saw the hundreds of people on the ice, she stepped right on.

It took her a while to get comfortable, but eventually she and I were down on a bare expanse of ice, peering through the darkness and trying to see to the water. We admired the geometry of the cracks and speculated as to how deep they went. She grew more confident the longer we were there. She went from not wanting to go to this event to not wanting to leave.

The hit of the day was a huge black fish kite with rainbow scales. I think it was about 12-15 feet in length. It took a lot of wind to keep it aloft, which meant that it often dragged just above the crowd and crashed to the ice, to the great excitement of the kids who would rush to it to touch it. It swept along the crowd and surprised many by lifting up along the back of their jackets. They would turn to see who or what had touched them, only to see a great expanse of a black tail swooping upwards.

This fish -- what a great exercise in community-building! Its owner was an elderly gentleman who was limping slightly due to a fall he had taken earlier on the ice. "I'm not gonna be able to move tomorrow," he told me, "But I gotta stay out here, the kids just love this kite,"

So he would untangle and pull on the strings after a particularly embattled crash, while one of the adults (usually a parent) would hold the fish's mouth open until its body filled with wind. Then it would ever so slowly lift to the sky, sometimes to swoop and come back down again, other times to take to the air and look like it was swimming.

I thought we'd spend a half an hour there, we ended up spending nearly three.  What a wonderful afternoon.

Ice Cave Adventure

This winter has been a doozy. And I can still say "this winter" in late March because it still looks and feels like winter out. Highs of 20 degrees, snow in the forecast, no sign of greenery. The birds have returned, but they seem confused. ("What the hell, where's the grass?!")

The one bonus of all this cold weather is that Lake Superior was 97% frozen for the first time since 2009. This means that all the areas of the lakes that are only accessible by kayak or canoe are now accessible by walking, including the ice caves near the Apostle Islands in Bayfield, WI.

I had to go. This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even though I know the lake will freeze over again. There was just something about it that felt like I needed to take this chance.

For me, this was a chance. I have a great fear of walking on ice over a large body of water. The stories my dad told me as a child of people going through the ice on Lake Superior, and the times he was out hunting with our dog and broke through ice on a marsh must've scared me to the depth of my being. I consider being on lake ice a very risky venture, something I usually avoid.

And yet, to see those amazing caves! Even if I drove up there and then chickened out, I had to try.

On one particular Monday I floated my idea by Wayne, and by Friday I had plans solidified. I would drive as far as Duluth and stay at my friend Junal's house, then Saturday she and I and her boyfriend would head out to the ice caves, another hour and a half east of Duluth.

And so I went.

It was breath taking. I am so glad I took this chance and made the impromptu trip.

The weather was perfect -- about 20 degrees (a far cry from the weeks of below zero and single-digit temps we'd been having), not much wind, and mostly blue sky. We drove to the area, found parking and took a shuttle to Meyers Beach National Park. The caves were about 1.5 miles down from where we first got on the lake, and then they stretched along for over a mile. We could explore as much or as little as we wanted.

The ice was so incredibly thick that my fears dissipated. Most of the paths were packed down snow, but near the caves it was bare ice which was quite treacherous. There had been several falls, and later I heard that the weekend before a woman broke a vertebrae after taking a spill on the ice. (Glad I didn't know that before-hand).

The ice took on incredible shapes, from round globules of amber to spikes of stalagtites that looked sharp enough to impale a person. We explored a small crevice, also a challenge for me, since I get anxious in tight spaces. But it got larger once I got through the opening, and the ice formations inside were spell-binding.

From inside the crevice, looking upwards at the opening I'd just squeezed through.

The pictures do not do it justice.

One of the caves during summer.

That same cave the day I visited. 

After we explored for a couple hours, we shuttled back to the car and drove to a small place in Cornucopia, population 500, where we could get a burger and a beer. To our surprise they had black bean burger on the menu for the vegetarian among us, and they had locally made "Sassy Nanny" goat cheese that you could add to any burger. Clearly not your everyday small town fare; I assume they are accustomed to catering to people from all over. The goat cheese was fantastic, so tangy and creamy. Cost all of $.50 to add it to my burger, and they slathered so much on I think they were grateful to have someone order it before it went bad.

A burger, a beer and a warm place to rest with good company. Perfect.

We drove back to Duluth and I took off from there back home. It is amazing what adventures a person can have in just 24 hours.

The following weekend was the last weekend of the season -- they closed the access to caves after that. I learned that even though the ice by the caves is still thick enough, ice elsewhere on the lake has melted significantly. This means that you could be standing on the ice by the caves, have a strong wind come along, and suddenly find yourself 3 feet from shore. Or 10 feet, or in the middle of the lake if you weren't paying attention!

In 2009 the ice caves had a total of 8,400 visitors over the entire winter. The day I was there they had more than 14,000 visitors, and over the course of the entire season they had nearly 100,000 visitors to the caves. They chalked up the interest to the fact that it had been 5 years since a good freeze, and many visitors shared their photos via social media, which prompted others to want to make the trek. The biggest challenge was finding parking, so they worked with the local community to plow fields and other areas to create the shuttle areas. The shuttle drivers were all very nice and talked about what a boon to the local economy the caves were. They did such a great job of accommodating the crowds. I hope to see them again another year.

Stormy Weather Makes Good Neighbors

This past weekend the Twin Cities was hit with a severe line of thunderstorms. No tornadoes, thank goodness, but the damage was more widespread and devastating.

Photo Credit: Bryan Piatt    Location: Bryn Mawr neighborhood.

At one point in time over 550,000 homes were without electricity. With an average of 2.52 people per household in this state, that means that more than 1.3 million people were without power for anywhere from several hours to several days.

Photo Credit: @XcelEnergyMN Map of power outages.

Photo Credit: Sharon Stiteler.          Location: 32nd Ave and Aldrich St.

Photo Credit: Paul Schmelzer.         Driver escaped unscathed.

We were fortunate. No trees lost, no power outages. We saw the storm whip up around 8:30 Friday night, went to bed and slept through it.

We awoke the next morning to reported chaos, but not near us. We went about our weekend like normal; it seemed odd and slightly selfish. Yet we were warned to stay away from areas that had been affected, so we did.

Instead, we saw from afar how people came together to clear debris and help each other out.

A local cheesecake business put a call for help out on their Facebook page, which basically said "We've got $8,000 of inventory in our coolers and no power. We need assistance finding temporary homes for these cheesecakes so we can deliver to very important weekend weddings (aren't they all, to each bride and groom?) HELP!" And help arrived. By the end of the comment string her cheesecake was safely stored in industrial coolers across the city, picked up by various parties and safely delivered to their destinations on time and in perfect condition.Three days after the storm, power was finally back on.

A co-worker of mine related the story of walking around Lake Harriet the morning after the storm. They had lost power and wanted to see how the rest of the neighborhood fared. They were on the pedestrian path, stepping over branches and leaves in their way, then thought, "Why are we stepping over these? Whose job is it to clear this stuff?" So as they walked along they began picking up the branches and setting them off to the side. They soon saw other people doing the same thing. By the time crews got to the lake to begin clean up, debris was already in neat little piles alongside the paths so that crews could get straight to work on the larger branches and trees.

Residents became frustrated when neighbors across the street from them had their power restored while theirs was still out. That frustration soon gave way to gratitude when those neighbors with power invited them over for a beer and dinner.

Monday morning's commute was still snarled from many traffic lights being out. Drivers took turns at four-way stops, waving each other on and stopping for every pedestrian.

Minnesota nice was put to the test this past weekend, and proved its muster. I'm proud of our city and its residents.

63 Degrees

The first 63 degree day after a long, snowy winter sounds like sheets of ice gliding across the lake, clinking softly and bubbling as they bump into each other.  It sounds like bikes whirring and feet slapping against the trails around the lakes.

It looks like ducks on water, squirrels scampering hurriedly from place to place, uncovering stashes of nuts. It looks like bare, pasty-white legs exposed for the first time in months, in constant movement under summer dresses and shorts.

It smells like outdoor grills wafting delicious smells down the street, like fresh air whispering through open windows.

It tastes like hamburgers, broccoli salad, a glass of crisp pinot grigio on the patio.

It feels like a warm breeze, like the earth shaking off the cold and embracing the sun.

Welcome spring. Finally.

Weird-Ass Weather that Makes Me Curse

Who wants to read a blog post about weather? Not me. What a boring topic.

But this "spring," we have had nothing but winter, which makes this weather blog worthy to me.

While friends in Washington D.C. are posting photos of cherry blossoms, and my cousin who moved to NYC this spring is posting beautiful photos of bright green leaves just budding from trees, we have nothing but brown and white.

We've gotten something like 14 inches of snow in April. April, I tell you! Normally we have spring rains, and little puddles and those dirty nasty snow piles that are remaining from the winter's snow,  not curb-to-curb snow that requires shoveling and snowblowing.

The Minnesota Twins have already played 20 games into their regular season. It seems surreal to be playing baseball in winter, because that's what this is, full out winter. We had several "winter storm warnings" with dire predictions of freezing rain and snow, which unfortunately came true. Short-sleeved shirts and open-toed shoes are still in storage. Winter coats once stored away in a fit of optimism were dragged back to the main coat closet a day later.

What. The fuck. [Hey, I warned you in the title.]

In all honesty, it's pretty. The snow has been heavy and wet, which means it sticks to the trees for hours before finally sliding off in a sloppy, slushy mess. It makes for frosty blue and white landscapes.

I took the above photos on Friday, April 19th, after an overnight storm dumped about 6 inches of snow. I thought that I'd better capture the beauty of the lake and snow covered trees, it was sure to be the last snowfall of the year. Most of our winter snow is too dry to stick to the trees, so the aftermath is nowhere near as pretty as this one was.

I took this one four days later on April 23rd, after yet another overnight snowstorm dropped another 3 or 4 inches on us. 

Are we done yet?

I think that finally -- perhaps -- we are. We hit the 50's today, and have a prediction for 70 on Sunday. Let's hope it holds.

I'm done with the boring topic of weather.

The Gift

We were given a gift this past weekend. Some day we will look back and say, "Remember that St. Patrick's Day weekend when it was in the 70's all weekend? Crazy!"

So what do you do on a weekend like that? You relish it. You savor every moment. And you document it, so you don't forget.

We made homemade sundaes.

We raced.

Marissa broke in the swing.

While Lindsey tested to see if it still swung as high.



The trees are confused.

The girls played on the front yard.

And snuggled their Build-A-Bear bears.



Dax caught bubbles.

Reindeer Run

This past Saturday I ran the Reindeer Run 5k with a friend who I met at Halloween. In our first meeting I discovered that she is a runner and has had her eye on the Reindeer Run as her next race. So we agreed to sign up together and dress up.

I found some Santa hats with leopard print trim -- sure, why not?

We had a lot of fun -- Lindsey's 30 mins 22 second 5k still stands as the record between her races and my own.

Our running gear was pretty tame in comparison to others. There were some who were *not* dressed up for the run.

Yes, seriously, we saw this guy. he arrived just as the race was starting. I would've too if the largest piece of my costume was my boots. It was 28 degrees at the start -- brrrr!

First Snow

We finally got our first snow of any substance this past weekend. It was supposed to be a trace, it was more like 3 inches. It began around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and didn't finish up until after midnight.

I had been down at a neighbor's house that evening, and left her home to walk back to mine around 9:30. I walked outside to find 4 or 5 neighbors outside, shoveling, walking dogs or playing in the snow. It was a festive atmosphere, yet still quiet with the hush of new fallen snow.

My photo doesn't do it justice.

These Warm Autumn Days

Saturday morning.

Sunday morning.

Yes, the leaves did eventually get raked up and bagged. And by the next morning you couldn't tell.

That groundhog has some 'splainin to do

I need to explain my Wordless Wednesday post of yesterday. I confess, I wrote it on Sunday night and scheduled it to post Wednesday morning.

I clearly hadn't paid much attention to the weather forecast for the week, or I wouldn't be talking about how happy I was to finally see our patio lights again.

So let me correct that post now, can I?

Dec 12, 2010, after 17" of snow

Dec 23, 2010 after another dumping

Jan 16, 2011 -- fare thee well, little light! We'll see you in spring.

March 18, 2011. Hello, little light! Is it spring yet?

March 23, 2011. Nope, not spring yet!

So there you have it. That groundhog sure doesn't know what he's talking about. Why is groundhog day in the middle of winter anyway? Wouldn't it make more sense to have it be closer to spring, when there's an actual possibility of him being right?

Wordless Wednesday: Forget Robins and Grass...

We've got a different hint of spring in our backyard this year.

Our patio light was last seen on January 15th.

It has re-emerged as of March 18th.

A Sign of Spring

"Mom! Mom! Come here! Look outside!"

Marissa stood at the window, gesturing wildly for me to look out the window with her.

I peer out, looking for what unusual thing has caught her eye. I see nothing and no one.

"What do you see?" I ask.

She points excitedly.

"GRASS!" she says.

Sure enough, after two days of 40-degree weather there's about two inches of grass showing alongside our sidewalk where the snow has retreated.

It's the first time we've seen the grass since October, and it is definitely worth celebrating.

"Spring" Fashion

At this time of year I chide my children to never, ever lose their mittens.

Why? you ask.

Because if they did, I couldn't go to a store and buy them a new pair. Yes, it's February in Minnesota. Yes, we are still getting snow every other day. But apparently the retailers have decided that it's time to plan for spring. The children's section of Target is filled with shorts, t-shirts and, of all things, swimsuits.

Huh??

One day last week the following two catalogs arrived in our mailbox:

I flipped through them both quickly, admiring the fashions and how amazing they looked on their models.

And then I threw both of them in the recycling.  Because this is what it looks outside:

The very thought of putting on the clothes in these catalogs makes me shiver. I wonder how quickly I would get frostbite on my legs if I wore shorts, or how I would keep the snow out of the toes of my sandals if I tried to venture outside in them.

I want to curl up in a ball under my down comforter when I see pictures like this.

I understand that in other parts of the country it is warming up. My dad informed me the other day that they are starting to see 70 degrees in Arkansas, and hiacynth and daffodils are starting to pop through the earth. But when you live in warmer climates like that, 70 is not warm -- 90 is. So even in his household they are donning long pants and sweatshirts until it warms up more.

So I will do this year like I do every year. I will wait until it actually feels warm outside to get my warm weather shopping done. And that works well for me, because by then everything's on clearance and I can buy it for the prices I want to pay anyway.

Until then, you'll find me hibernating in my bed, under a few layers of blankets and down. See you in spring!

A Wintry Sun

What is it about the sun in winter that does not warm us? Even the sunset is not the warm orange glow of summer, it is a cool pink and blue. Perhaps it's because after years of living in the great white north I've learned that a brillinat blue sky with no clouds means that it is bitterly cold, all the heat of the earth escaping into the atmosphere.

But there is still something about the promise of seeing the sun that makes me smile. Maybe that's because just a few short weeks ago my drive home from work was in complete dark, and now I get to watch the sun set. It's a clear sign that spring is around the corner.

Wordless Wednesday: The Battle Is Lost

Our patio light, Dec 12. 

 

Same light, Dec 23.



On Jan 16 - the snow won the battle.


Let me just say this: it's been a snowy winter.

The Frugal Family's Winter Getaway

This past Sunday the forecast was for a high of 10 degrees. While there was no snow predicted for that day, we had certainly already gotten our share and were expecting more this past week (we got it).

My toes and nose are cold from November until April. Our shoulders instinctively hunch together when we step outside, and Lindsey's feet are peeling from being perpetually covered in socks, slippers or boots.

We are all suffering from cabin fever in a big way, despite the coldness in our bones.

Our solution?

No trips to Cancun for us, no flights to the Dominican Republic. Instead, we head to the Waterpark of America for an entire day, and that's where you could find us this past Sunday.

This is the only picture that I have of our time there. For once I put down the camera and didn't try to document our adventures but instead just enjoyed our family time. The park was warm and humid. Humid, I tell you! And while eventually I got cold from being in and out of the water in less-than-tropically warm water, the girls never stopped sliding, and playing and jumping in the water, so they remained warm.

It was just the winter break we needed. No passports needed.