darn vermin

Just as I was beginning to speculate that ol' man winter would not show his face around here this year, that darn ground hog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. The nerve.

Regardless, February 2 actually marks the half way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so technically it will still be winter for a while, even though it appears to be late March here in the Twin Cities.

Perhaps, I should simply adopt the mindset of the Celts who believed that the beginning of February is the awakening of spring. I like that. It is all a matter of perspective or in this case delusion.

ice fish house fever

Kim and I ventured to the Art Shanty Village on Medicine Lake. These are the crazy things that happen during winter in Minnesota, snow or no snow! The shanty village is pretty much a village: a danceteria, a printing press, a travel office, a historical society, public transit...aka ice biking (pictured above), capital hill & the department of everything else, a school house that gives mini classes, a working sauna (which was amazing!), a form of law enforcement (Kim in front of the movable robot), a gymnasium, a cafe, a dress up house, a camera store, an international society, a zoo of sorts, a hotel of sorts and the list goes on....