We persist in the abyss of winter, 2022

"Snirt" (image from aljazeera)

The movie "Fargo" certainly presented exaggerated stereotypes. The movie was right on in conveying the dreary nature of winter. It showed us inhabitants carrying on as best we could, living life as though we might be oblivious, whereas most certainly the opposite was true. 

Ah, scraping the windshield. Can't remember if "car clumps" were depicted, those annoying dirty half-snow, half-ice things that get just behind your car tires. The movie showed how sometimes when you're walking over snow, the snow will support your weight until suddenly it doesn't. We have all experienced this, how suddenly your leg will go down. 

I made it to town the other day on foot, going south from where I live along the non-maintained U of M road that has been there for time immemorial. One change: it no longer connects to the highway. You'll come to the east end of the relatively new service road. It's the road where Greeley Plumbing is. 

One merely has to navigate a slight incline to get onto the service road. A lot of snow has been pushed there. I'm sure this coming spring - I do believe spring will eventually come - that place will be exhibit 'A' for "snirt." 

Look out for "snirt" this year, the combo of snow and dirt of course. Over the weekend we already saw some arrival of that. But it didn't last long, as a new snowfall has covered it up. And it's supposed to snow worse tomorrow (Tuesday). 

Oh! Tomorrow is 2/22/22, isn't that interesting? You might say it's "Twosday." Hmmm. Also consider: This century alone has had a couple "Onesdays," 1/11/11 and 11/11/11. Plus, eleven other months with repetitions such as 1/1/01, 6/6/06 and 12/12/12. We'll hit "Threesday," 3/3/33, in eleven years, and "Foursday" eleven years after that. 

The significance of all this? No idea. Did you know that "God" spelled backwards is "dog?" No apparent significance there either. 

My previous blog post gave some attention to Sharon Martin's dog "Goldy." The brightest, most heartening sign of spring is to see Sharon with "Goldy" out along the biking/walking trail to the east of town. 

 

Almost like quicksand

More on my saga of walking into town from the north: OK, so I get to the end of the service road, where piles of snow get pushed for snow removal. It's a little daunting to navigate there. Yes, my "leg went down" as I sought to walk up the incline. Suddenly I realized that extricating myself was going to be rather difficult. I likened this situation almost to quicksand. I'm now age 67 and maybe have to acknowledge a little loss of strength from my hearty middle age. 

I did in fact extricate myself but it was after some somewhat tense moments. 

I came up with a strategy for dealing with the spot: get on "all fours" and spread your weight out. 

Why was I "trekking" like this? It was because I had to pick up my car from Heartland Motors after an oil change. It was the day when we had "white-outs" coming and going. I was going to grab a quick bite to eat at McDonald's before going home. Then a "white-out" hit. You know the feeling, you Minnesotans, when a white-out arrives. I suddenly wondered if I'd even make it home. Where to stay? Where to park where my vehicle would not get towed?! Morris is pretty sensitive about that. 

Well, the white-out abated in fairly short order, so I got home, breathed a huge sigh of relief after getting car in garage and closing the door. More white-outs were coming that day. What a life in Minnesota. No exaggeration from the movie "Fargo" on that. I did not particularly like the whole movie, too many disturbing aspects. 

 

Inflation is real

Since I have dropped the "McDonald's" name here, let me share that I have noticed pretty steady price inflation there. Will they abate? Seems not to have bothered customers much yet. The drive-through line amazes me, sometimes backed way up. Aren't people concerned with exhausting gas while in these lines? So I'm 67 and and when I was young, there was no such thing as "drive-through." People left tips in restaurants with coins, hard coins! Seat belts were not mandatory. Schools did not have to contract for "security." 

Is inflation going to start a panic soon? One has to wonder. Will civilization start to break down? I watch people come in and out of Willie's and I'm reminded of the famous quote: "The majority of people lead lives of quite desperation." (Henry David Thoreau)

  

Addendum: Just got back to the house from walk downtown to get sustenance at Willie's. Avoided the farm field this time. Roads are bad and that includes being icy and slippery. Wind a factor also. I wanted to consider a stretch of highway for getting into town. The wind would have been easier to take, entirely at my back. The stretch would be from Armory to Homestead or maybe even to Pizza Hut. I'd be walking facing traffic naturally, completely legal.

The problem is that I would still risk being accosted by a Morris police officer. This has happened to me before during bad winter weather. And it is extremely unnerving these days being confronted by cops, no matter the circumstances. I mean, with news reports rolling in quite regularly about aggressive police behavior, cops making mistakes or whatever. Getting shot after being pulled over for having air freshener hanging from your rear-view mirror. So it's very scary and discomforting. 

I wish to take no undue risks. So I just don't walk on highway shoulders anymore. 

Residents of Northridge Drive cannot get to town "as the crow flies." We're across the field from Homestead (formerly Gibson's, formerly Pamida, formerly Shopko).

Today I got a nice little meal at Willie's, less than $10, consumed it at the "cafe" there and walked home. May not be able to drive tomorrow. Could walk into town again in morning. Will avoid the highways. I don't want to get shot or anything. The cops have "qualified immunity." That, plus they can be arrogant bastards. They are extremely dangerous.

Ten dollars seemed like so much more money when I was a kid.

 

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