so we have snow once again in minnesota. it seems like it's been forever since we've had a white december. i don't think i had to shovel last year until january. i often hear people say "it was nice to have a warm winter" and that makes me sad. snow is part of life in the midwest. i hear of family resorts that struggle because the winter tourism has died. perhaps i have a soft spot for them because i grew up on a family resort. without the snowmobile and ice fishing industry, it would have never survived from nov - march. we had fun with it too. my grandpa hosted a horseshoe tournament and a bowling on ice tournament every winter. i hated standing out on a frozen lake for hours as a pin setter, but looking back it was fun. this weekend had me longing for an inner tube and that resort which sported the best sledding hill in wisconsin.
what does this have to do with my car? it has four wheel drive and excels in the show. i mean really just goes. it never gets stuck. the tires are a size larger than the standard tires so it sits fairly high. it's also not very heavy. so with the 4x4 on, it just plows through any snow drift or unplowed street. i love to drive it after a fresh heavy snowfall when the street lights cast long shadows across a snowy yard and the wind is non-existant. most people avoid the roads so they are nice and quiet. i'll just drive with the radio off and the window open. the crisp fresh air making my feel alive. usually on these drives i help at least one person get unstuck whether that's by helping them shovel out or my favorite way, hooking up my tow cable and yanking their car out. i'm a scrawny nerdy art boy. it's one of the few times a year i feel manly and tough.
the rain didn't really clean off the chalk, but the snow sure did. there's nothing but faint outlines of doodles and sketches on the chalker. i'm guessing it will be a quiet few months for chalking. i'll have to park in more parking ramps when out to see if that makes it easier for people to release their inner artist in a mn winter.
speaking of mn winters, me and the chalker will be in duluth this weekend for a wedding. look for the chalker in the depot parking lot or vicinity on saturday evening. don't let the chalker leave duluth with a clean slate.
