MINNESOTA Moments

A snow day in April

By Mike Nistler

I'm snowed in today. It's strange. Mid April and the snow is coming down like nuts. I know this isn't the first time this has happened, but this spring seems to be all messed up, especially since Easter landed so early this year.

So, I'm snowed in. I'm sure I could get out of the driveway if I wanted to, or had to for some reason. After all, I've got a 4-wheel-drive, F250 pickup. But, I prefer to stay home today. Why mess with icky roads and muck up the situation even worse then it is unless you absolutely have to? Besides, with a home office and a computer and cell phone and all of the amenities of this technological era, does it really matter where you are? I can't even remember what it was like "in the old days" when we were snowed in on the farm, with no electricity or means of "escaping."

I remember as a kid playing in the snow. One year, 1965, we got so much snow in March that the snow went all the way to the top of our chicken coop. We were able to climb the snow drifts to the top of the chicken coop and jump off the other end in to a smaller drift of snow. We thought this was quite fun. Go figure. We made trip after trip up the drift to jump off, sort of as if we were getting back on a ride at Disneyland. Simple pleasures!

Anyhow, enjoy today's snow. It may be the last for this season. (It better be) Stay off the roads if you can, but climbing on chicken coops will be allowed.

Take me out to the ball game

By Mike Nistler

Today is opening day for Major League Baseball in Minnesota as the Twins host the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It used to be the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels. Now, this moniker. Phooey.

Anyhow, it's snowing like mad outside. If the Twins were still playing at the old Met Stadium, today's game wouldn't be played. And, in two years when the Twins open their new outdoor stadium, if we get a repeat of this weather, no game. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. The roads are going to be in terrible shape for those fans attending tonight's game. They've already called an early end to the school day at several schools across the state.

So, it appears that March is going out like a lion. If this snow were happening tomorrow, everyone would be saying this was a big April fools joke. Well, this isn't a joke.

I remember a spring a lot like this when I was a senior in high school. I played baseball and we had a really good team. We eventually won the conference title that year, but not after many trials and tribulations concerning the weather. I still have our schedule for that year in a scrapbook somewhere that shows games crossed off the schedule due to snow and cold. It was a miserable spring. We played games with snow surrounding the field. And it was cold. Brrr.

I'm glad I'm retired from playing the game, although thoughts of making a comeback still flit through my brain. I guess old ball players die hard, even on a snowy opening day in Minnesota.

Brrrrring it on

Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008

Yikes, it's cold outside. Barely made it down to the mailbox and back. I'm glad I didn't have to go any farther than that. Even the dogs didn't want to stay outside long this morning. Usually, they are oblivious to the cold. They'll even lie down until their chew bones are devoured. (For those of you who don't have dogs, chew bones are the equivalent of toothbrushes).

Anyhow, today is going to be a day for staying inside. I've got Minnesota Moments pages to proof, a book to read and some old magazine articles I want to re-read, including one on former NFL standout Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan after he turned his back on his football career to serve his country in the armed forces. This is one of the most moving stories I've ever read and Tillman is a true American hero.

Have a great day and stay warm.

Mike

Snow globe

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008

Maybe it's my imagination, but this winter seems to have given us an unusual number of what I like to call "snow globe" moments. Those moments are times when you look outside at the scenery and it appears that you're living in a snow globe. The snow is gently falling, the landscape is covered with a fresh powder of white, the trees are coated with frost  -- almost as if someone has shaken a snow globe. Of course, if that were the case you'd probably notice a little bit of Jerry Lee Lewis action, you know, a whole lot of shaking going on? Plates would be falling out of the cupboard, books would be tumbling from their shelves, chandeliers swinging violently back and forth. Maybe that explains earthquakes?

Mike

Cold Weather... Flat Tires... The Old Farm Truck

My daughter had a flat tire on her car the other day, due to the cold weather, I would imagine. The incident reminded me of the frigid winter some 30 years ago when I was in college and driving what was referred to as a “farm truck,” a 1969 Ford. My dad talked me in to getting new tires that winter, actually, they were “retreads.” Don’t ask me about that, I’m not a car guy. My best explanation is that they were old tires with “new” treads on them for better traction in the snow.

Well, the morning after getting the “new” tires, I walked outside in below-zero weather to find three of the four tires flat. In those days, I was not very good at changing tires. Believe me when I tell you, that winter, under the most arctic of temperatures, I became a pro at changing tires, as retread after retread went flat. It’s amazing I wasn’t hired by a NASCAR pit crew to work for them.

Mike

The Days How They Fly By...

Wow, where does time go? January is over and it seems like we just got through the Christmas holiday. Amazing.

I noticed that it was still fairly light outside when I got home the other night at 5:30. That’s great. I hate the darkness. I can’t wait for June when the sun is bright and the days are long.

Speaking of January, this recent cold snap was interesting. It’s been a while since we’ve felt 50 below windchills. It’s no fun to be caught outside for any length of time in temperatures that cold. Thank God I wasn’t.

Mike

The Cold Winters Of The 1980's

The other day I was writing about garages and the weather and how life has changed over the years. I was focusing on the tools and accessories and comforts that we have to make dealing with winter easier. I got to thinking of the first house I lived in after my wife and I were married. It didn’t have a garage. On cold nights, and back in the early ’80s there were a few of them, I’d get up at night every four hours to start the cars so their batteries wouldn’t go dead. Neither of our cars had tank heaters.

Then, when we moved to our next house, the situation improved, but not by much. We had a one-car detached garage. One of our cars had to sit outside. Thankfully, we had a tank heater in it by that time.

Our next house had a two-car attached garage. Better even yet, but not ideal. It still got pretty cold in there.

Now, we have a three-car heated garage.

If we move again, I wonder what we’ll have for parking arrangements?

Mike

Brrr. There’s a nip in the air...

Brrr. There’s a nip in the air here in Central Minnesota this morning. The thermostat has been inching downward the last few days. Makes me remember the winters of years gone by.

Sometimes I wonder if winter is getting less vicious or if we just have better tools, to cope?

My latest luxury is a heated garage, which both I and my dogs, golden retrievers Buddy and Junior, love. What a treat to walk into a garage on a morning when it’s below zero outside and inside it’s somewhere in the vicinity of 50 to 60 degrees. The dogs are sleeping on an old couch in the corner and it takes a bit of coaxing to get them to go outside and do what dogs do after a night of deep sleep.

In the old days, the dogs slept outside in an unheated garage, and let me tell you, it got pretty cold in there. Why, even in the unheated garage, the car engines groaned something fierce when they were first started.

So, let the cold snap continue. I’ll stand in my garage and admire the frosty surroundings through the window.

Mike