By Jim Studer
Two winters in a row, AWOL. Last year we had practically no snow in the southern half of Minnesota. This year we’ve only had a little more in the center one third of the state. Newcomers to the state must think we lie about the harsh winters. Snow sculptures, winter carnival and tales of Paul and his blue ox to them are so much fabrication.
Allow me to digress. In the winter of ‘65 we had a real winter. Just after the Ides of February in St. Cloud we were gifted with nearly nine inches of new snow. In those days we didn’t call it a storm. A storm demands blizzard winds. It snowed, we shoveled, plowed and went to school. No one expected a snow day.