Winter Minnesota Culture

This Parker climbing a snow drift.


This is me in front of a snow pile after one of our "really big snow" as Parker calls them. This piles remain in the parking lots as they only get bigger as snow continues to fall.

So, here we are in Minnesota for our first and I think only winter, and it is an experience. As you will see by the pictures, we have gotten a lot of snow and cold. Addison hates the cold, she cries if the wind blows on her and is just miserable being outside if it's too cold. Parker on the other hand loves it! He's always loved to be outside, and the snow and cold doesn't seem to hinder him, except when it was -28...then he was a little whiny about it.

So here's a list that I'll keep adding to of things that stick out to me about Minnesota....

1. Shoe etiquette.....since it is winter out, whenever you go in a building or house from outside, you are bound to track in salt, snow, water, and dirt....so you have to take of your shoes as soon as you go in the house....now since you don't take your shoes off when you go into Walmart or wherever cuz that would be weird, their entry ways are constantly being cleaned and look dirty! But, I have it interesting how quickly kids catch on....Parker for example knows that when you walk in a house, you don't go past the rug before you take your shoes off, and you have to take off your coat and hang it up. He has of course learned this at home, but it carries on to when we take him to a friends house, he does the same things...stops in the door way so no one else can enter, wonders where he should sit to take off his shoes, and takes off his coat.....hopefully remembering to hang it up on the coat rack we hung right at his level and not leaving it on the floor to be picked up by mommy later. I've observed this same behavior from other kids...they walk into a house, sit down and take off their shoes before even greeting someone.....

So, since you are now at a a stranger's home without your shoes/boots on....you might want to bring your slippers/house shoes or at least that's what I've seen people do here. Now I know some of you take your shoes off in non wet places summer and winter when ever you walk into your home, which is fine and normal too....and great for your clean-up! But I never thought of having to bring my slippers with me when I go to someone's house on top of myself, my kids and all their stuff and whatever else I might have brought! But you really might want to....the ground is cold, thus the cement your house is built on is cold, thus your floors are probably cold, and therefore...where slippers so your feet don't freeze! (When my dad came to visit, he noticed how cold our floor is...so he bought us a thermometer to put on the floor to see how cold it really is...it's around 60 or less!)

2. Check your coat please. When you go to a church or really large public place that you have sit down in....there is most likely a place to hang your coat in the entry way! Which makes sense, if all of us brought in our parkas to church service, our coats of ourselves and our children would take up the rest of the pew!

3. Car Washes. So when it snows they salt...which helps melt the snow and ice...but then gets on your car...so you have to wash it frequently. Giant chunks of ice also accumulate under your car and wheels because while you are driving they get wet, but when you stop, it never gets warm enough to melt, until you drive again, so ice and snow build up...well the car wash has a garage door that opens and closes on each side! So when you go into the car wash, the exit is closed, and then you close where you entered. This makes it warmer when you are washing your car in 10 or 20 degree weather...and I imagine helps keep the car wash from turning into an ice rink!

4. School delays and closings. This winter has been frigid cold and we have gotten tons of snow! Well, I expected this, but I didn't expect to see that school would be delayed and closed so often. And when school closes other things are cancelled as well of course. But, it snows and is cold every winter....so why are they cancelling school? I mean at this rate, the kids will be going to school until July! And the city schools haven't been cancelled so much as the surrounding areas...but the city activities would be delayed or rescheduled...So, one day I asked a local what this was about. I mean I know it's cold waiting for the bus, but I don't think the low is getting out of the single digits anytime soon. She is said that it's not because of the cold so much but because the smaller communities are made up of lots of farmers....their roads aren't plowed as efficiently as our city, and so they can't get out safely on the gravel roads that lead to their home and ultimately the highway they need to get to to catch the bus. I don't know what you know of Minnesota, but I was surprised at how much was farming...there are corn fields everywhere, and driving to Minneapolis you see tons of old and new farm houses and farms...it's really kind of pretty to see the rolling hills of white snow or green grass, with the giant barns and farm houses.