Snow Envy

by Maggie Montgomery

I have had the pleasure of commuting 60 miles to KAXE from my home in East Nary for the past 13+ years. There’s some guilt associated with using the gas, of course, and more than 2 hours on the road every day really eats into my personal time. Also, Highway 2 can be kind of scary when driving conditions are bad!

But the drive through the Chippewa National Forest is usually pleasant, and I get to devote a lot of attention to listening to KAXE! Commuting in northern Minnesota isn’t like a city commute at all: I know the highway well, get to see wildlife, and it’s (usually) much less stressful.

Going from Point A to a Point B 60 miles away also allows me to make some comparisons. Today it was the snow.

Yes, there is snow on the ground this morning in East Nary, maybe 2 inches of it. We have been patiently waiting for it to add up to something ski-able. This fall Dennis and I took to the trails around our house, like we usually do, with anvil-headed pruners and a scythe. Clip, clip…down with the shoots sprouting from the roots of trees in the trail. WHACK!…those wild raspberries! They grow like weeds!

If we had the snow in East Nary today that there is in Grand Rapids, I could ski. But it didn’t happen. I have to wait longer. I’m jealous!

How’s the snow in your neck of the woods?