One of my favorite Minnesota winter events is witnessing the first whisper of spring! The moment looks, feels, smells, and sounds like 'hope'. It is at that moment I begin to believe the ice and snow will eventually yield to a glorious refrain of seasonal civility. Yesterday offered this hope. I sensed the whisper. Additionally, my good friend, Paul, arrived from Colorado. It was the perfect combination of events.
Paul and I met yesterday morning at the Viking Cafe in downtown Fergus Falls to 'recap and assess' current happenings. After filling ourselves with coffee, bacon, and hash browns (uff da), we decided a drive through the country would be the perfect sedentary activity to promote some much needed digestion. Besides, I had an itch to view a nice piece of lakefront property south of Battle Lake and was looking for an excuse. (Yes, a person can look at lake property in the winter - you just need a bit more imagination to absorb the full potential!)
On the way Paul and I talked about fly fishing, the 'Viking Regulars', and Colorado. (We may have also covered gas mileage, road salt, the band members of 'Cream', and the current price of an oil change.) Through it all we had some fun taxing our respective memories with things mostly mundane.
Traveling passed Clitherall Lake I noted all the fish houses dotting the otherwise barren lake surface. I recalled my last trip out on the ice: great coffee, great conversation, great fishing! (And is there anything tastier than fresh walleye taken from ice water?) At the same time I couldn't help but think how odd it must seem for folks less familiar to consider such outings as 'high' entertainment during a Minnesota winter.
Winter in Minnesota can be a fascinating study. At first glance one only views a barren, monochrome landscape. A person might initially sense the rush of nothing except an expansive, calming stillness. Closer examination, however, reveals tracks - evidence of life, bustling organisms, and much activity. There are cross-country skiing tracks, deer tracks, and 'alfalfa-flaking-off-hay-bale tracks' (as farmers haul behemoth bales of fodder for their livestock). Along the highway right-of-ways we find snowmobile tracks. We can discover the hurried tracks of turkey and coyote as they course open breaks of pasture. Rumbling snow plows leave 'tracks' everywhere. Chickadee tracks and empty sunflower hulls are scattered at our doorsteps. Tracks of smoke are pluming up from the newly established fish-house villages. And there are still more tracks to the fish houses. Winter in Minnesota: It bustles with the many varied signatures of life. It is vital. I would miss it.
The drive continues and Paul and I speak less. (Good digestion requires focus and silence.) The passing farm yards, timber tracts, and fields dull the senses like Novocaine. And what was once only suspected is now confirmed: I ate way too much at The Viking.
This particular drive is a favorite of mine. I know the destination as well as the journey (and we have nearly arrived). Just ahead is 'the curve'. Passing through 'the curve' is like passing into another time. The view transforms. In an instant the perspective changes from driving 'through' the country to one of 'overlooking' the country. The road's shoulder falls out of site. The southern horizon opens beyond a deep, oak-rimmed bowl of bramble and willow. The colors in the sky wash across the snow. It is a stunning view that is measured in miles. The distant skyline is beaded with pronounced hilltops, gnarled oak, and draws. Paul comments, "This is like 'Currier & Ives'."
Are you looking for a place to live that gives back more than it takes? A place that passes time with great conversation, meals of winter walleye, and peace-of-mind? Why not invest yourself in all four seasons of Otter Tail County? You may discover there is no finer place on earth for you to find yourself. Far too few people take occasion to experience - and appreciate - Minnesota's winter season. Looks just like 'Currier & Ives'. Feels just like home.
Jon Drews - Broker Associate with Century 21 Vista, Inc.
Jon is a fourth-generation resident of Otter Tail County and looks forward to serving all your Otter Tail County real estate needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment