Hit or Miss Winter

Hit or Miss Winter

By Maggie Gray

I cannot imagine that you can call Minnesota your home and say you actually HATE winter! Or do you? Are you one of those people that find yourself singing the blues when the grey skies start swallowing our winter days? Do you just long for spring or summer? Do you watch the weather reports and see nothing but gloomy days and winter predictions on the forecast?

Or, are you longingly looking at your snowmobile this winter or your skis and asking WHEN oh WHEN will there be snow? If you’re a winter photographer like me, then that last mound of snow in my front yard is all I have left of the most bizarre winter I’ve endured in years.

Endured? Okay winter haters, yes, I said endured. I long for blizzards and massive snow fall with those gorgeous heavy snowy days when a wondrous silence overtakes the earth as the skies drop gorgeous heavy snow flakes on the ground.

I have stood in the woods during a snowstorm and the blissful silence renders snowflakes hitting the trees and you can hear it, you can actually hear the flakes as they hit the trees. Everything is quiet and unless you move, all you hear are birds and occasional squirrels chirping in the trees. You put your face up to the sky and let the giant flakes hit you in the face. The icy cold wet flakes jolt your senses and you feel like a child again and feel alive.

Ski resorts manufacture snow to generate business and thrill the winter skiers. Winter lovers travel to locations with the hope that this winter’s snowy disappointment will be forgotten in a more snow-congested location. Wildlife with this springlike winter are emerging from dens, mating earlier and trees are starting to bud when normally dormant in winter’s freeze.

It’s March and the neighborhood kids are outside in shorts and t-shirts skating, biking and playing basketball. March 2022 and 2023 produced double digit record snowfalls for many locations in Minnesota. Right now, I am looking at my grass turning green!

So, this is my attempt to bring a touch of winter to all of you who are as confused as me. Is it spring? Is it winter? What exactly IS IT? I went to Yellowstone and Theodore Roosevelt National Park during February this year and was aching for snowfall. I got my wish. So for all you snow lovers, these images are for you! Fret naught! I am sure winter will come back next year with a vengeance and remind us WHY we live in the frozen north!

Contact Maggie Gray for comments: maggie@grayheart.com