Crystal clear

© harrington

The night before last the local temperature dropped to minus ten to minus fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. That's the kind of winter temperature I remember as standard winter fare in My Minnesota. Snow turned squeaky-cold. Eyeballs that shrivel at the slightest breeze. Glistening expanses of crystal reflections everywhere we look. Some neighbors heat their houses with wood. The smell of wood smoke in the morning as I drive to work is a special winter treat. Soon, great horned owls will be mating. Spring equinox is about eleven weeks away. Canada geese should be back in about eight to ten weeks. To some of us, winter may seem as though it will last forever but in Minnesota, seasonal changes progress as inevitably as death and taxes. For those of you who really enjoy winter, cherish these days, especially the sunny or snowy ones. The rest of us will look for bright and sparkly distractions to get us through to mud season. If Minnesota's average temperatures weren't created from such extreme ranges, I don't know how we'd keep the riff-raff out.