Frost Warning

Minnesota has a reputation as the icebox of the lower 48. It is true, we have had some epic winters through the years, but recent winters have not fit the stereotype.  When I was a kid, the snow was up to my chin every year - not so any more. (That's a joke, btw).

We had a frost warning just the other day that would have challenged the earliest ever had it happened.  Traditionally, we see a frost before the end of September and almost always by October 8.  

But our reputation comes from the dark days of deep winter, with howling winds and massive snowfall of the "blizzard(s) of the century".  Blizzard. What a great word - makes you shiver just to speak it.

Armistice Day, 1940

On November 11, 1940, the "Armistice Day Blizzard" left 49 dead in Minnesota and gales wracked Lake Superior, sinking a number of ships. The day started balmy, with people in short-sleeves and suddenly turned freezing, dropping 2 feet of snow and trapping people unprepared.  Weather forecasting was not sophisticated. in 1940 and watches and warnings non-existent.  (FYI: I don't remember this one - I wasn't around).

And here's a photo of the 1919 post blizzard scene - also before my time. 

Franco

In January 1975, we suffered  mightily.  The Vikings were playing the Steelers in New Orleans in the Super Bowl. Score 16-6.  To add to the injury, we welcomed another "storm of the century", naturally tagged the "Super Bowl Blizzard".  Barometric pressure in Duluth measured a record low 28.55".  Over 2' of snow fell with 80 mph winds, creating 20' high drifts.  In states south of us, 40-odd tornadoes wreaked havoc, the greatest winter tornado-fest in recorded US history.

In 1991, we had the "Halloween Blizzard", October 31-November 4, with consecutive days of 16" snowfall - the heavy, wet kind. I remember that vividly because we did not own a snow blower .. plus our daughter had contracted to do the winter snow shoveling for a neighbor. This turned into several family fun days. Uffda.  (This was a national event.  The film "The Perfect Storm" documents the New England impact.)  And the ice.  The freeways were left so ice-coated, it was like driving on a rutted country road for weeks. 

But the storm that is most memorable to me occurred in 1965, the "St. Paddy's Day Blizzard." On March 1st we got a foot of snow. But on March 17th, a full-fledged blizzard rolled through over 3 days, dropping a mountain of snow with 60 mph winds and frigid temps (-10°).  I was in high school in '65 and in those days schools were rarely if ever closed due to weather.  This time GHS closed for several days in a row. My father was a plumbing, heating & electrical contractor and also owned the hardware store. He could fix anything. He provided his skills to folks in much of Pope & Douglas counties.  During the blizzard and for days thereafter, roads - particularly country roads - were impassible. I remember he walked to the store and camped out for several days - taking desperate phone calls from folks with myriads of problems - pumps failing, furnaces failing, ... you get the picture. He would try to talk people through DIY fixes - the first "hotline" I can recall.  The roads were so plugged and the drifts so high, Minnesota brought in "blower" style plows from Yellowstone to try to clear the roads.  When the plows started spitting out mailboxes, the idea was abandoned. 

(Notice a trend?  The lesson may be to stay indoors for any holiday or major event between September and April.) 

Of course, winter is a beautiful time of year.

Make the best of it

Copyright ©  2021  Dave Hoplin 

Hmm

"If something is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly."  G.K. Chesterson

Hmm.  I've always believed if you are going to do something, you should do it well or not at all. But "doing it poorly" means you are doing something "worth doing", perhaps not that adeptly or proficiently, but acting rather than observing.  So go ahead, brush your teeth for 30 seconds rather than the ADA 2 minute recommendation. Or run that 15 minute mile. Just don't be bragging too much about your accomplishment.  The world needs more "doers", not more "commentators". (Yes. I recognize the irony in that statement.)

“A human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea.”  James Agee from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,  

Hmm. This of course has nothing to do with me and my privileged life.  It's those others, the exploiter 1% controlling 50% of the world's wealth.

Over the course of his life, Andrew Carnegie endowed 2,811 libraries and many charitable foundations as well as the internationally famous Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He gave away almost 90% of his fortune, and wrote an article, The Gospel of Wealth, encouraging other rich people to use their money to benefit society. He also bought 7,689 organs for churches. The purpose of the latter gift was, in Carnegie's words, "To lessen the pain of the sermons."

Hmm. Not every good deed is done for altruistic reasons. There is often an ulterior motive.  Often, it is the desire for praise or the admiration of others or some kind of personal gain. Carnegie's is at least honest. (I get Carnegie's sentiment, and although a talented organist playing a Bach fugue is thrilling, I prefer choral.) Nevertheless, whatever your motivation for performing a good deed, do it.

"The great secret of doctors, known only to their wives, but still hidden from the public, is that most things get better by themselves; most things, in fact, are better in the morning."  Lewis Thomas

Hmm. And then they don't.  Don't bank on it. Most never means always and never never means never.

"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.” Albert Einstein 

  

Hmm. Success is not defined by a fulsome obituary or a fat bank account. Besides, obituaries are a bastion of great fiction. Success should be measured by lives impacted.

In 1784 Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to his daughter saying that he was not pleased about the choice of bald eagle as the symbol of America. He wished it had not been chosen as a "representative of our country" because, he said, it is a "Bird of bad moral Character." Franklin wrote about the eagle: "Like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy." The Turkey is a much more respectable Bird, and ... a true original Native of America."

Hmm.  The majestic in flight bald eagle is a scavenger, an "opportunistic" eater, hence Franklin's "bad moral character" declaration.  But in my experience, turkeys are incredibly stupid. Have you ever been called "a turkey". It is an insult. I vote to stick with baldy.

"The only rational way of educating is to be an example. If one can't help it, a warning example. A. Einstein

Hmm. So you see, no one is really useless. You can always serve as a bad example.

Copyright ©  2021  Dave Hoplin