Thursday, April 05, 2007

You know it's springtime in Minnesotarctica when...

  • one day it's short sleeve weather, the next it's parka weather.
  • the wind chill factor is still a factor in May.
  • you find Canada geese turning around and heading south again when the ponds re-freeze.
  • you never know from day to day if you can keep the beer chilled on the outside step, or have to put it in the fridge or a cooler, or bring it inside before it freezes.
  • it's sunny and 25 degrees outside, but the sunlight is so strong it melts ice and snow.
  • you see pictures of ice-covered crocuses in the newspaper. Really.
  • you're almost ready to put the winter boots away, but you follow you gut instinct and leave them out. Later you're glad you trusted your inner polar bear.
  • your coworkers set nets in the little open water on a lake to get the northern pike run, and end up chiseling them out of ice.
  • roads are covered with snow, but the frost boils still hold pockets of unfrozen water.
  • you take a chance and wash your car when the worst of mud season appears to be over, and it snows a foot the next day.

This second winter we're experiencing is a cruel, cruel joke.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

frost boils?

Deb said...

pablo- I was HOPING someone would ask! Frost boils are what happens when a gravel road thaws. I suppose in your parts they don't really freeze in the first place. But here, they freeze down to a certain depth depending on temperature and snow cover. Building code is four feet for footings, so it probably goes somewhat less than that. Anyway, when the ground starts thawing, water has no where to go but to the surface, so it seeps up there and creates soft little mud pockets in the road. These manifest themselves as little round mud holes, or frost boils. I will try to take a picture when conditions allow.

They also put road restrictions on this time of year, so overweight trucks won't create expensive mudholes in county roads. I believe roads of our type are restricted to five tons axle weight or less. Cuts down on the logging traffic, but our roofing ended up being unloaded four miles away, at our carpenter's house.

R.Powers said...

I just spent two days house painting in shorts under a clear blue sky. I'd mention the breeze was a little chilly, but you'd probably slap me silly.

Deb said...

FC- I am so so sorry you felt chilled.

Consider yourself slapped. Silly!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

What in the hell happened here!! I was in Phoenix for a week with my family- we left 92 degrees there and came home to 20 degrees here three hours later!! I was afraid we'd be missing the leafing out!

Larry said...

weathers crummy in CT. too.-I'll be looking forward to 60 degre weather.

Deb said...

Lynne- don't worry about the leafing out--that's probably two months away at the rate we're going! We were at my brother's in Edina (yes, Edina...cake eaters! :) ) on Easter Sunday and were amazed at the lack of snow there...but it was still cold.

larry- I keep checking the forecast, and it keeps saying more of the same...what's up with that?

~Jennifer said...

Hi there fellow INFP-er. :-) We have something else in common. I'm sorta from Minnesota. Being an Air Force brat I don't really feel like I'm from anywhere, but all my relatives are there, and growing up I spent every vacation there. We also lived there a couple of times like when my dad went to Vietnam. So, I'm well acquainted with the state, and occasionally my husband teases me when a bit of Minnesota shows up in a slight accent I develop at times.