To take advantage of the beautiful day, we went cross country skiing as a family. It was my first time, and I have to say it’s a lot of fun. Our youngest had a bit more of a challenge ahead of him. It took him a while to get the hang of ‘walking’ with his poles. The poor kid spent a lot of time on his back trying to uncross his skis after falling down. We did manage to complete a 5K in just over two hours. Olympics 2014, here we come!
They sure don’t make sleds like they used to. I still remember the old Flexible Flyer sled we had growing up. The powder-coated steel runners elevated the treated birch body off the snow high enough to ensure that there was minimal friction to slow you down. Combine this simple engineering with ideally packed snow and you had yourself a sixty inch snow torpedo. That flexible wooden steering plank mounted on the front gave the lead rider little, if any, serious control of a four-person team once they reached terminal velocity. As if this sled wasn’t dangerous enough, I can recall riding it down the middle of our steeply sloped street. Thankfully there wasn’t a lot of traffic.
By now everyone’s heard about Mark Ladwig, the Olympic figure skater from Moorhead. Unfortunately for Minnesota residents, he’s better known by his nickname “Fargo” in the Olympic village — so by proxy us North Dakotans get any press (positive or negative) surrounding his performance in Vancouver. It’s not really a stretch to think that someone from the frigid north would excel at a sport that takes place on the ice (certainly not ironic like the Jamaican bobsled team). If the Olympic Committee ever decided to take a look at adopting Shoveling as an event, there would be far more athletes coming from North Dakota. We have the perfect training conditions for it.
Button up! It looks like we have six more weeks of winter to endure. The Groundhog’s Day tradition is one of the most interesting and ridiculous ceremonies in American history. I’ve always felt that the conditions leading to the predictions defied logic. In my mind if the groundhog sees his shadow that would mean that there is plenty of sunlight outside — a condition more typical of spring-like weather. Instead it means we’re getting six more weeks of winter. And that six week length of time ain’t exactly something you can bank on either. It certainly isn’t adequate for North Dakota. I mean, look at last year — we had a blizzard a whole eight weeks after Punxsutawney Phil made his prediction. But then, how accurate can a weatherman who forecasts the weather once a year actually be?
After the weather forecasts of last week, I fully expected to be buried in feet of snow today (I guess it could still blow in). They say weather is one of the most difficult things to predict accurately beyond a couple days so you have to give the weatherman some leeway when it comes to the seven-day forecast. It’s funny how much guff they get from us for “lying” about the weather. We should all be thankful for the times they forecast gloom and doom when actually we have a half decent day.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but the threat of global warming doesn’t seem real eminent right now! Even the Sunshine State is experiencing record cold with this Arctic Blast. Heck, the freezing cold temperatures were knocking iguanas out of trees. Don’t fret though, it appears much balmier weather is on the way. Tomorrow’s high is expected to reach a balmy 34˚ — that’s above zero, mind you. We may just have to crack a window or two!
Hey, compared to last year we’ve been pretty fortunate. We may have had sub-zero temps lately but at least we don’t have mountains of snow… yet. Winter hit us on the first of December and now it feels like late January. Maybe this means that the entire winter will be accelerated. With any luck we’ll be able to mow our lawns in early March.
We can learn a lot from kids. I marvel at their ability to make friends so easily. It’s not uncommon for either of our boys to start playing with other kids for hours and not even know their names. For whatever reason this carefree and nondiscriminatory attitude towards relationships becomes more conditional as we age. Judgment of character is important to protect ourselves from being hurt but accepting others for who they are is something I want our kids to practice. I know there will be trials in their lives when they choose their peers, but we try to encourage them to be leaders and good examples to others. Will they fail? Certainly (we all do), but I hope that they can be the friend they’d want for themselves. Friends are a blessing I often take for granted and I am certainly grateful to have them in my life.
I think it’s safe to say that winter is upon us. This year was really extraordinary with regard to weather and it was really nice to have the time to prepare for the snow this year. Most of the time, winter comes like an unexpected guest and a lot of the fall work is buried until spring. Even if it had come in October, we North Dakotans would still endure it (though there were certainly a lot threatening to move last winter). Let’s face it, for living in this part of the country we’re all pretty resilient and that makes us who we are… crazy.