Snow, Snow, Snow

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth



On the subject of snow and winter, I want to tell you about the first winter we lived in our house. We bought our house in the Woodland neighborhood of Duluth in October, 1971. The fall was so beautiful that year, and we moved in as the leaves were turning and starting to fall. There were lots of trees, beautiful colors in the fall, and when the snow started arriving those trees were also beautiful when covered with snow. That first winter in our new home was exciting. Our little girl was going on 2. I was an “at home” Mom, as most of us Moms were in those days.

We didn’t know we moved to the “snow belt” of the city, but would find that over the hill from the Lake Superior where we were, received a many inches more of snow than the down town area. Lake Superior keeps the temps downtown warmer, thus not as much snow and not as cold. We live over the hill, more snow, and colder. We also didn’t know that most homeowners in Woodland owned a snow blower. Snow blowers were very expensive. We invested in some good shovels instead.

That first winter, especially February and March, were so snowy. We had many snowfalls and many snow storms that dumped a lot of snow on us! Bob would get out early in the morning before leaving for his job and shovel. It was up to me to shovel throughout the day, so that when he came home from work, the job wasn’t quite as hard for him. I can remember shoveling, and I can remember us shoveling together, as the snow was falling, so we could keep up! Everyone else on the street, waited until the snow finished falling then came out with their snow blowers. When the snow fall was real heavy and the city plow would come by and dump a large amount in front of our driveway, sometimes there was a kind neighbor who would come with their snow-blower and blow the front for us. I often think about that snowy winter, especially the last few winters that have been so much milder, with much less snow. I’m not sure if 1972 was our snowiest winter, or if I think it was because we hand shoveled the snow!

Can you guess what we purchased with our income tax refund that spring? That’s right, a used snow blower! Bob babied that machine for years, and because of his special care of it, it lasted until the year 2002, when we bought a brand new machine. We decided it was the best use of an income tax refund in our married life!