This column is in connection with the most talked-about subject in April 2018 around the coffee pot in Southern Minnesota. Let me give you a hint: it’s a very naughty word that got very, very naughty the further along we got in April. Yes, it has four letters and begins with an “s.”
The Albert Lea Tribune had front page, big capital letters on Wednesday, April 4, “Here we s--- again,” and Saturday, April 7, “More s---? Say it ain’t so.”
The weekend of Friday the 13th of April, eight inches of s--- closing the freeways and stopping traffic.
Wednesday, April 18, more s--- shutting down everything due to 10 inches of s--- with blizzard conditions.
At the Women of the Evangelical Church of America the Blue Earth River Conference was held at Salem Lutheran Church on Saturday, April 7. Gail Ottesen was the convener. She introduced Tim O’Shields, minister of music, worship and the arts at First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. In giving his message, Tim mentioned that the easiest way of clearing your driveway of s--- is just drive through it as he learned from an old neighbor named Bob.
At an outdoor baseball park in a small town it started to s--- just after the game started. Flakes just kept coming. The game was cancelled; players and fans went to work. At each position on the field (infield, outfield, pitcher, catcher) they built a life-size s---man. The crowning of the event was when they put a baseball in the arm of the pitcher and a bat in the arm of the batter at home plate.
With our ability to get a very reliable weather forecast in regards to s--- as far out as 10 days, our scheduling of activities has really changed. The 10-day forecast is used in determining travel, when to go ice fishing, scheduling family events, when to get the car serviced, even in planning the day to hold a funeral.
Birds congregate at a feeder when the ground is all covered with s---. Hawks like the delicacy of s--- birds. We have leftover feathers of a hawk delicacy by our bird feeder.
For anyone who can’t figure out what the main topic in April around the Minnesota coffee pot was: the answer is snow.
P.S. The current coffee pot talks about this April also included two previous late spring heavy snowfalls. One was nine inches of snow on April 26, 1988. The other lasted three days with the total being 17.3 inches in the NRHEG area May 2-4, 2013. I have an unusual photo showing the tractor and corn planter left in the field with snowmobile tracks around them (see Greg Recknor for the original photo). To back up this true story, see Frank Gjersvik, as he also left the tractor and corn planter in the field (the only difference was Frank didn’t take a picture; he did say the yield was very good).
Regarding the May 2-4 snowfall of 2013, the temperature was 102 degrees on May 14 with many mounds of snow yet to be melted (I have front page Albert Lea Tribune headlines showing melting mounds of snow in the parking lot of Security State Bank in Albert Lea on May 14).
Short Shorts:
1. Per the medical field, cabin fever can be caused by snow in April. The only cure is warm weather coming to you or going to warm weather.
2. Per the weatherman, April 2018 was the most snow in April record for this area.
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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.