Ahhhhhhhhh

80 degrees
Sunny
Beach
Ocean
Golf
Paradise
Colleen

Where Am I? What Day is It? What Time Is It?

Beautiful Palm Springs. That snow is fresh from a storm that blew through on Friday night.

For the first time in a long time, I am confused. I returned home to MSP this morning at 2 a.m. after ten travel packed days. Boston (Atlantic Ocean), Orange County (Pacific Ocean), Palm Springs (desert and mountains), Minneapolis (snow). Two oceans, three states, three different time zones. Is it a wonder I'm confused? Oh yeah, Ponte Vedra on Friday!

Loppet? What's a Loppet?

Twinkly luminaries light the way.

The question begging to be answered is:  "what is a loppet?" The word loppet (so much fun to say) is Scandinavian in origin meaning a great gathering of skiers who ski on specifically groomed trails of varying distances, include enormous amounts of food and drink, and usually end with a party or celebratory banquet and dance. Who wouldn't want to attend such an event? The annual City of Lakes Loppet is a two day cross country ski festival featuring the beautiful trails and lakes of the Twin Cities. There is a 33K Freestyle Loppet that draws about 2000 competitors and encompasses three or more lakes, a Minne Loppet for the under 12 set, a 7K Skijoring Loppet (think cross between dog sledding and X-country skiing and watch the YouTube video at the end of the post), and the 5K Luminary Loppet which Jim and I attended on Saturday night. Thousands of Minneapolis neighbors came out to enjoy this 6th annual night of lights.

One of 1200+ ice luminaries.

Chicken and eggs.

The entire Luminary Loppet is run and manned by almost 500 volunteers. The luminaries are  mostly made in 3 gallon buckets. One ingenious volunteer rigged a contraption he dubbed "The Water Cow" that can make 12 3-gallon luminaries a minute (he studied engineering in a previous life).

Me and the Viking.

Luminary Pyramid.

Fire dancers.

Along with skiers, bikers, snowshoers, walkers, kids and dogs we enjoyed the luminary lit 5K route that snaked around the ice on the the Lake of the Isles. There was an ice sculpture contest, fire dancers, a luminary Pyramid, Enchanted Forest,  and Icecropolis. Not a detail is overlooked, including hot cocoa stations to warm the belly and fire pits to warm the digits.

Directional on the lake.

Jim at Icecropolis

The twinkling crystal of the luminaries created a magical glow across the lake and even with all the spectators, there was a the quiet peacefulness about the night. I embrace the Minnesotan view that it's not about the weather.

Recently visited this impressive building in St. Paul- the Minnesota History Center which is not only a museum with changing exhibits, lectures, concerts, programs, and other events, it houses the Historical Society with a multi-story library and archives for research. I visited several exhibits including Weather Permitting which captures all the weather extremes and the MN philosophy on this snowman: "No matter what Minnesotans do, weather is a part of it. Living in MN means learning to cope with challenging weather extremes and a kaleidoscope of seasons." Generations have dressed for it, played in it, battled it, talked about it, and survived it.

My favorite was MN150 which opened in 2008 to celebrate 150 years of MN statehood. Culled from 3000 entries from all corners of the state and world, a panel chose 150 people, places, and things that have shaped MN. Wide ranging in scope, topics include sporting events and persons, inventors and inventions, businesses (Greyhound Bus), political figures and pop icons (think Hubert Humphrey and Bob Dylan), cultural traditions (Paul Bunyan). Definitely too much to take in on first blush, a repeat visit is necessary.

All in all, a great way to spend a wintery, cold afternoon!