Saturday, January 27, 2018

A Winter walk in Minnesota












I went on a four mile walk on a wintry day earlier this week, just at the start of a blizzard that dropped foot of snow on us.

"Oh boy!" You cry "I love when you talk about your nature walks along the river in Minnesota!"

Really? I had no idea, I mean, except in the sense that I invented you saying it.

"So what did you see?"

Well, it was snowing fiercely as I stepped out my back door. I headed directly into a powerful north wind, and though bundled up properly, my first thoughts as I embarked upon my walk was "This is going to hurt."

"Wow, then what?"

Then I walked through my neighborhood and on the paths along the Mississippi River for four miles. The walks were icy in places and covered in a just obscuring layer of new snow. I walked for an hour and a half. Heavy bits of snow blew into my face.

"Wow, yes, yes, and what did you see? Tell me what you saw. Tell me everything you saw."

I saw the ground. I saw the ground and nothing else.




 

3 comments:

  1. Far be it from me to interject my humble comment into your august blog, but it's hurtful that you have so blithely brushed away the gazillion times I've commented "I love it when you post about your nature walks along the river in Minnesota".
    This post doesn't include any power eagles or spirit guide turkeys, not even a wayward Roman bear. Are they simply too highly evolved to venture out into a blizzard?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! Such a valid comment! I thought I made this person up, but then it turned out to be you! I probably didn't want to be rude and put you in my blog without permission (instead of "you said" it would read "mdnez said"), and in my caution I insulted you anyway!

      I'm sorry.

      Onto your other comment then: Well, the idea is that power eagle, spirit turkeys and roman bears were all there, probably, just what was it to me as all I could see was the sidewalk.

      But I accentuated that for effect. And I will let you in on a small secret as a way of making some amends: I did see a turkey in that walk! Out of the white blizzardy gloom I came suddenly upon him, which surprised him and caused him to run to the backyard of a house near the river. When I turned the corner I saw him nervously milling about in this backyard and I had the distinct impression that he had become separated from his flock in the storm!

      It was all very dramatic, in a murky, hard to see sort of way.

      Delete
  2. Whoa, that's one atmospheric turkey! <3

    ReplyDelete

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