This is "winter," "Fargo" movie style

(from kmrs-kkok site)

Was it so long ago that I could shoot some hoops at the Wells Park court? We are so adaptable, us Minnesotans. Adaptable out of necessity, not that we seek the kind of pure winter weather that envelops us. 

There, I typed "envelops" and not "envelopes." Nice little test of my cognitive state. Spell-check no help on that. "Envelopes" were what we used in "old days," pre-electronic communications, the days when we'd regularly go to a bank and stand in line at a teller window. Change has been profound. Still we grapple with the certainty of the Minnesota winter with its often-grim nature, n'est-ce pas? 

Our winter today, Jan. 8, 2022, is exactly what the creators of the movie "Fargo" tried to project. We can expect a fair amount of snow by now. But in the past few days, we have gotten the "bonus" of strong winds coming out of the north (or northwest) and south. What beautiful "balance." 

My neighborhood of Northridge Drive becomes very attentive to wind effects. We are quite the target for the northwest wind as it assaults down the slope of a gradual hill to the north. Every few years, I feel curiosity about walking to the top of the hill and looking beyond. Surely there must be something interesting "beyond," right? There isn't, there is just "more of same." 

"More of same" describes so much of our rural western Minnesota countryside. I think this is partly what enthralled the makers of the movie "Fargo." Look at how the telephone poles recede into the distance, no clear landmarks in many places. A commentator on the movie remembered his own background in our state, how you'd look to the horizon in winter and it would be an ill-defined hazy blue line. 

We accept all of these traits of the season while acting upbeat around everyone we encounter. Hey, it's just another day, right? Another day in paradise? Well, another day in Minnesota. 

So this morning I said "to heck with shoveling." The effects of the south wind (out of hell) were most evident. Yes, I could have wielded a shovel. I will be 67 years old later this month. I live alone, unfortunately. Maybe my age suggests I might be a focus of some concern. So if the driveway is unattended for a couple days, perhaps time for a "welfare check?" I know one of my neighbors saw me walking home this morning. Maybe they'll start touching base with each other. 

I actually reminded one of my neighbors about three years ago that "I ran the Twin Cities Marathon three times in the 1980s." I was seeking to assure him I could always get to town and back. But, the 1980s? Olivia Newton-John times? Getting more remote to be sure, although fresh in my mind. 

Come to think of it, '70s seem rather fresh too. And my parents remembered the "big band" times of Glenn Miller. Such music was "cool" for a young generation. My late father Ralph got a chance to visit with Miller once. 

We're talking disco for the 1970s. It was escapist music designed, perhaps, to help us put aside concerns like inflation and the Vietnam war which the U.S. had lost. Inflation? It's back at the top of the news today. Losing a war? How about Afghanistan? Wars have seemed necessary to keep the wheels turning for the military industrial complex. What if the U.S. had not been forced to enter World War II? The monstrous complex might not have gotten off the ground. We would not have needed Bob Hope and Ann-Margret to entertain troops in Vietnam. 

Could we have just left Afghanistan alone? What was the pricetag? And now we see hair-pulling among Republicans about how the "build back better" plan is "too expensive." What is the purpose of our education system in America, if it produces leaders with such pea brains? 

Everything is tilted to the right politically now. Donald Trump will not go away. We hear "let's go Brandon" in church. Trump has normalized the word "fuck" whereas previously, it had an awful taint. This is how our culture evolves. 

Trump called General Mark Milley a "fucking idiot." Want to make a wager on who is more intelligent and accomplished? Trump or Milley? Have a hard time answering that question? 

So it's Saturday morning and we go about our business as if in the middle of the movie "Fargo." It's important to act like nothing is awry with the weather - that's part of being Minnesotan. Talk about the weather with some amusement. Deep down we are burdened. Don't let that come out. 

Could I run the Twin Cities Marathon today? For some reason I have no desire to even "jog." I get frustrated seeing Kevin Wohlers who is so in the spirit with jogging. I envy him. I choose instead to shoot hoops at the Wells Park court. But not this weekend.

I am putting up this post at 2:20 p.m. as the northwest wind has really whipped up again. Batten down the hatches.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com