Day: February 24, 2016

One week of weather in the 60’s and the 70’s and we are all very spoiled! It is lovely to go outside and not break a sweat or have to catch a breath, as the cold air sears your lungs. Today it is in the 30’s again…and yes, I will take that over the year we spent in Duluth, Minnesota.

Duluth is a beautiful city on the shores of Lake Superior. I loved it from the standpoint of that lake. It was just like being on the ocean, where I have always wanted to live. I think I spent almost every day…a part of a day, down at the lake. We lived just a few blocks away, which would not have been impossible to walk.  But with four children trailing behind like little ducks, along a very busy road…just didn’t happen.

You could stand on the shoreline there, and close your eyes, listening to the waves lap at the rocks. Some days the wind would push big waves in, and it was almost like the ocean. The view across the lake was very much like the ocean…water to the horizon. Every once in a while, a huge barge would pass, and the children always thought that was great. We had picnics there, many walks, and sometimes just drove around the little park situated on the shore.

A few days ago, someone shared a video they had made of the ice-stacking on Lake Superior, taken in Duluth. Yes, we did see it in person, while there. It is pretty fantastic and a bit scary. Very loud! This video made me think of our year there, and winter always comes to mind. I usually enjoy winter from the standpoint of cooler weather, the snow is very pretty, and you have a little downtime before the growing season begins again. Our winter in Duluth was a test of my endurance.

It seems as though I would be exaggerating if I said it snowed every day that winter, but it wouldn’t be by much if I did. If it didn’t snow all day, it snowed for part of the day or looked like it was about to snow. We lived in the city and we had to keep our sidewalks clean. The two oldest girls and I pretty much kept a rotation going to keep them clean. If you didn’t do that, you were slinging some pretty heavy stuff! Of course it always snowed on Saturday night. The first few Saturdays, I made sure the van was cleaned off and ready to go so we could leave for church more easily. Sunday morning would arrive, van buried. So, I stopped cleaning it off the night before and just got up early. The drive to church was a challenge as well. Since we lived close to the lake, everything was uphill from there, including our church. Clear roads…no such thing. They were snow-packed the entire winter, which, if you had good tires, made it a little easier to get around. Now, if you noticed, I said ‘I’ a lot in that past paragraph. If my husband had been home that winter, he would have at least cleaned off the van in the mornings for church and shoveled a path to it. But he worked for JB Hunt that winter, out of Missouri. He wasn’t home a lot for all the fun.

So, when I think of winter, Duluth comes to mind. Spring doesn’t happen until about June, when the ice is finally gone from all the lakes. So, I will take the thirty degree weather we are having now. A little snow storm wouldn’t be unwelcome either. You know, to just get a bit of a feel before spring and summer begin. But, if you get a chance, watch the video below. The ice-stacking is pretty fantastic!