Extreme Beauty. Minnesota Winter.

Moving to Minneapolis, MN from New York City has been an adventure in many ways.   But lately I am (constantly) reminded that we have moved to the land of extreme living.  In the middle of a long hard winter, it's not unusual to have days where the temperature doesn't climb above 0 degrees Fahrenheit.   That's before wind chill is factored in.  This is weather in which you HAVE to wear a hat and gloves or you may have frostbite before you know it.  Well, I've decided to embrace it.  It's HARD CORE winter.    We gear up and face the day.  With warm clothes, hot tea and warm soups it's really not all that bad.  I've discovered the joys of wool socks (as someone who had perpetually cold feet, my feet are no longer cold with those suckers on).  Oh, and my remote starter helps too, especially with my 2 small kiddos.

So it's dangerously cold here sometimes during the winter.   But the snow!  It's absolutely magical.  The extreme cold this time of year keeps it pristine and enchanting.  Once it gets over 25 degrees it gets all slushy and dirty, so extra cold means extra pretty snow.  The light it reflects, oh the light!  The white of the snow reflects so much light that it brightens up the inside of the house to keep the winter gloom at bay.  To my great surprise,  my street (in the city of Minneapolis) regularly has snow packed over it even after plows go by.  So it's white out my window as far as the eye can see.  I love it.  It's beautiful and refreshing and different.  From what I can tell we should expect snow for at least 4 months and it pretty much stays put.

There is something ethereal about winter sunrises and sunsets too.  Perhaps the snow sets them off.

Then there are the lakes - the City of Lakes turns into the City of Frozen Lakes and they sparkle in the sun.  Huge light reflection spaces.   And locals use these frozen lakes for oh so many things: skating, flying kites, cross country skiing (if there is snow), ice fishing.  There is so much to DO because of the snow.

I've spent years living in Chicago, London and New York City.  I never cared all that much for winter in those places, but it never really got cold enough, even in Chicago, to have a real culture surrounding winter.  I'm intrigued as never before by winter and the places, countries and customs that have evolved around it.

Part of me wonders if I'm still new here and the wonder of winter with it's dangerous and beautiful qualities will wear off and I'll tire of it.  But for now, I'm fascinated by this crazy cold place.

First Veggies: Radish Harvest

At our home here in Minneapolis we were fortunate enough to inherit (ok, rent) a backyard with a charming veggie garden and 3 raised beds for growing veggies.  This was a pleasant surprise in the spring, as the whole yard was covered with a good foot of snow when we rented the house in January.  As a complete and total big city dweller for all of my adult life, the closest I have ever been to having my own garden before this year was cultivating a couple of window boxes full of petunias at our last apartment and a basil plant in the kitchen window. That's one of the great things about the Twin Cities - you can live in the city and still have a little earth to call your own without selling your first born child.

A couple days ago I noticed that the radishes I had grown from seed were looking big enough to eat.  It seems like a small miracle to me that anything I planted from seed grows into a plant.  Especially one that is big enough to eat.  Amazing.

Here comes my little helper.

Fiona helped pull these babies out of the ground. 

Check out these red beauties.  

Hmmm, probably want to wash them before consumption.  But a little dirt won't hurt.

We harvested the lettuce and spinach today and had a great salad with our radishes.  Fiona even ate her leafy salad.

I hope the Swiss Chard will taste as good as it looks.  Going to wait a little longer to harvest it.

Yum.