Out of the Grasp

Great White Dispatch
Notes from Damn Near Canada
Episode 22
3/23/09
14:30

It's raining sideways. This is a good thing.

Sideways rain means that it's warm enough for there to be rain. It's been 50 degrees here for nearly a week, and with warmer temps forecast through the end of next week, I'm officially calling it: Winter's dead here in the Land Where No Heat Hath Touched.

As far as winters go, this one was unimpressive. I'd been steeling myself for something epic, and what we got here in Minnesota was a winter that was actually a lot easier than the one we left in Ohio. Sure, we had some hairy stretches. Had a good solid week of temperatures hovering around -15, with nights threatening to dive 40 notches below zilch. Had almost six weeks straight below freezing. Saw almost nine inches of snow stack up in four hours one day. Airika couldn't make it up the road and had to trudge a mile through those nine inches. But that's it. Our first Minnesota winter left me...cold. Nyuk.

I'm already on record as being disappointed this year. I mean, I wanted stories to tell. All I'm really left with is "Um, it got real cold." So from a tale-telling standpoint, winter sucked. I expected big things and got jack. This winter is like Greg Oden. At least I didn't piss away a draft pick on Sam Bowie, I guess.

But while I'm bummed that the season petered out so quietly, I gotta say I'm glad it's gone. There's a never ending supply of trails to hike and places to check out up here in the spring and summer. I'm anxious to get started.

And it's been a long time since I got to watch a decent thunderstorm like the one developing right outside my window. Yeah, I'm alright with spring.