When I was a child growing up in northern Wisconsin, I couldn’t understand why people would want to leave the beautiful snow and the fun that sledding, building snow forts and just the sight of it falling from the sky brought to my life. Now that I am a bit older I realize that the length and cold of winter is not so welcome to me as it once was and I can truly understand why one would want to move to warmer climbs for the winter.
However, that being said, winter in central Minnesota is also very beautiful – as the picture of the monastery gate following the Christmas snowstorm that preceed this entry attest.
Winter here can also produce conditions where suddenly there is an amazing amout of frost that forms on everything outside. If the sun comes out when this frost is present the sight is even more spectacular appearing “like jewels shining on Mount Zalmon” (psalm 68), even if it is only short lived as the warmth of the sun melts the frost crystals quickly.
Below are some pictures that I took jon campus just a few days ago. The last is my favorite.
Peace, bpv
