OUR FIRST MAJOR winter storm of the season dropped about 10 inches of snow in Faribault Friday into the early morning hours of Saturday. But other areas got more. Much more. Double in Woodbury and parts of the metro. Like Lakeville and Eagan.
Saturday morning I grabbed a cup of coffee, ate a bowl of cereal and then headed outside to help Randy with snow removal. I focus on the places he can’t reach with the snowblower. Like the steps. And around the garage. And then I do clean-up, scraping away residual snow.
As I stepped outdoors to a world of white, the sound of scraping shovels and of snowblowers broke any post-storm quiet. Everywhere I looked, neighbors were hard at work clearing sidewalks and driveways of snow.
There’s something comforting in seeing an entire neighborhood working separately, yet together, on a common mission. To dig out after a snowstorm.
I paused, too, to appreciate the beauty of the snow. Layering my neighbor’s evergreen trees.
Topping dried seed heads in my yard. Filling the woods.
Saturday unfolded into a day of blue skies and bright sunshine. Sun intense enough to melt snow from roads and other surfaces. That makes it far easier to get around. Friday evening Randy’s drive home from work along snow-packed Minnesota State Highway 3 took 45 minutes rather than the usual 22 minutes. I felt such relief when he finally pulled into the garage.
Last Saturday, our landscape was devoid of snow as we celebrated Winterfest here in Faribault. What a difference seven days can make.
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NOTE: My heart hurts for all those affected by the deadly and devastating tornadoes in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. That storm makes our major winter storm here in Minnesota seem only a minor inconvenience.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
wow! and weirdly, we hit 60 degrees today in michigan )
That must be a record for December in Michigan.
I’ll take it!
Lots of snow came down. We went cross country skiing in the Carleton Arb, after Gary plowed out the snow.
That sounds lovely. The skiing part.
We got about 7 1/2 inches in our driveway, but my son in South Minneapolis had 11 1/2. And my daughter in Columbia Heights didn’t have as much as we did but she was not as anal as her mom and brother who both took a tape measure outside to see what we got! It was so crazy how the amounts varied around the metro. I know what you mean about all the neighbors being outside clearing snow. That’s one of my favorite post-snowstorm things.
The tape measuring of snow made me laugh. I can relate. Randy does the same.
I was wondering if you caught the infamous pile of snow and you did – ha! I do not miss driving in snow and ice. It is pretty and so is white sand, which I now prefer over the cold white stuff. Be Safe, Stay Warm – Happy Day – Enjoy 🙂
White sand sounds, oh, so summery.
It was into the 80s here on Saturday and then woke up to fog and burned off and into the 70s on Sunday. We are enjoying the warm weather 🙂
Nice. We are expecting 50s here on Wednesday.
I always liked the first snowfall but after the initial one I was “over it”. Glad you guys have the tools to deal with it and get it cleared out. I must admit I really do not miss it one bit. When we do get snow here I enjoy it because I know it will be gone very quickly. And yes–the tornadoes were horrific and those people certainly need our prayers and whatever we can do to help.
Randy just got in from shoveling the end of the sidewalk open. The snowplow was working on clean-up today and shoved a mountain of snow onto the end of the sidewalk.
Yes to the prayers and other help needed for those in the path of the tornadoes.
You certainly seem equipped to handle a fairly large area. Impressive to work as a team. I was always thankful we lived on an East Side main artery, but with a long driveway.
I have a choir mate that is certain all of Woodbury’s 20″ landed in her driveway, preventing her from getting to Mahtomedi for Sat. rehearsal. We, just 5 mi. away, got a foot. Big surprise, we never get what’s forecast.
KY is getting all the coverage, terrible as it is, other states were affected too. Goes to show, God is in charge.
Did a week actually pass without a school shooting?!!!
Yes, living on an arterial street, like we do and you did, has the sole benefit of getting plowed out early. Otherwise, I very much dislike living along a busy street. Constant traffic. And wailing emergency sirens at all hours. When we moved into this house nearly 40 years ago, the street was not nearly this busy. Nor was the ambulance garage located on our end of town, making this the most direct and quickest route.
I was elated with the snow fall, about 8 inches at our home but reported 10 in NW Rochester. I smiled when I read your comment, “I paused, too, to appreciate the beauty of the snow….Yes it is so beautiful indeed!
I knew you’d be over-the-moon about the snow. Sounds like it will be melting tomorrow with temps predicted in the 60s.