Modern Smithing

wordsmithing in winter

Welcome to February. Winter is ebbing and spring is around the corner, at least to the optimist inside. There is beauty in every season but I prefer the seasons with better footing. Tonight is all about winter. So many of the skills of the past ended up with smith as a suffix. Words of winter is the story tonight so I will call it wordsmithing since I don't understand what a blacksmith does.

Wintertime in my favorite city. The land of 10,000 lakes is also home to Minneapolis, the City of Lakes. It probably doesn’t look quite as “desolate and dangerous” as your favorite news channel or newsfeed might want you to believe. As I’ve related before, if your “news source” touts the merits of 25-year shelf life freeze-dried foods, copper bracelets to relieve arm pain, storing gold coins in your home, and other such nonsense, pause to realize that the viewers are the target audience for such foolishness. When I view a story on the internet, I pay attention to the ads. If they are absurd, it is likely the veracity of the story is also.

The Inspiration

The right word for the right time is a goal of mine. At times, I have fallen victim to the use of unnecessary words because it is just fun to say. A great friend of mine, “P”, would give me a side-eye glance and mutter “okay wordsmith” when I overdid it. It is great to have a friend who keeps you between the lines. My inspiration this evening is the arrival of February. We have “weathered” the season thus far in the Twin Cities, avoiding measurable snow in October and November. We had our one “storm” in early January where we received 13.5” of snow. The whole season thus far, we have had just under 35” of snow. We are a bit below average and no snow in sight through the middle of the month.

The Setup

Despite over 30 years in the Midwest, I still maintain my connection to Western New York near Buffalo. Living in Buffalo is synonymous with the legendary lake-effect snowstorms of overwhelming scale. Tonight the theme will be a celebration of the soon-emerging spring (an optimist lies within). Some fun words that paint the scene of winter are the subject of tonight’s post. For those in warmer climates, there is a long-term benefit to learning a foreign language so just enjoy some of the silly winter-inspired euphemisms.

The Details

Wherever you live, your community has a feel. I always felt growing up that Buffalo felt the need to apologize for the weather and say “it’s not that bad”. While that is a stereotype, I believe it is important to embrace things. That has always been my feeling living here. In a previous post that remains the only one I ever removed about politics, I referenced the “We Like it Here” sign in the old Metrodome. Adaptation to the weather, embrace of the seasons, and celebrating what makes life special here, is a watchword for living in Minnesota. There are signs for it all around. When a downtown Minneapolis renovation was done in an area called “The Nicollet Mall”, the stewards even understood the value of art. There are wonderful and unique sewer covers (how’s that for street art) to be seen all around town. Here is one that you can see downtown trumpeting an urban planned architecture around the lakes in “the City of Lakes”. For old TV fans, these are the neighborhoods that backdrop the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

We all need manhole covers. Why not make them cool? This is a floormat inspired by manhole covers you can see in the City of Lakes.

Summertime on one of the chain of Lakes in Minneapolis. Used to be called Lake Calhoun but was recently renamed Bde Maka Ska

There are ways to enjoy all of the seasons. Same view, different day against the backdrop of downtown.

I have begun to stray a bit afield. Here is some wonderful winter lingo.

Thundersnow — Thunderstorms mean electricity and lightning. While it doesn’t happen often in the winter, thundersnow is a great show in the sky accompanied by heavy snow aka squalls

Black Ice — not many things worse than when the ground is REALLY cold and a bit of rain comes. In Minnesota this can happen in VERY COLD weather without rain because a car idling can localize a bit of frozen area and turn it to glare ice. Electric cars with no tailpipes will make it less likely in the future.

Polar Vortex — Don’t poke the bear. Large masses of really cold air near the poles just swirl. Once in a while it expands or gets disrupted (poking the bear). For us, this means a blast of cold air that makes us question the motto “we like it here” as Arctic air interrupts our fair city.

Lake-Effect Snow — whenever I heard this term on the weather as a child, it meant I would be glued to the radio in the morning and hoping for a snowday. Simple really, cold air traverses over warm water (preferrably a large (or Great) lake and mayhem of 2-3 inches of snow per hour may commence.

Graupel — not sure whether folks outside of Minnesota and Wisconsin know what this is? While sleet is kind of ice pellets, graupel is snow pellets. The science of it is a snowflake accumulates supercooled water droplets on its surface. For those you familiar with Dippin’ Dots, it looks a little like that but doesn’t taste as good.

Whiteout — Many have heard this expression and associate when you cannot see in front of you because of the rate of snow. Turns out, like everything scientific there is an official definition. During a true whiteout, the snow, clouds, mist, or fog are so intense that the horizon disappears, and nothing can cast a shadow.

Tonight’s last photo is inspired by a memory from college orientation for one of my sons in North Dakota. There was a new student sitting nearby and his t-shirt said “North Dakota Bring a Coat”. I thought it was a funny t-shirt. I could not find it online but this was a close facsimile. This captures our winter climate at times.

Winter weather 101 is now complete. Tonight here’s a song from a favored band that is less well known. Listen close. This song is about a snowman. For many of us, when the winter seems to stretch, here’s a song I enjoy. It can be a bit blue but it is about remaining positive even when it is -20 outside.