David Heiller
Sometimes pays to procrastinate.
Andrew Larson pointed that out to me or Monday morning. Andrew is our graphic design worker. I had told him on
Friday that my story about the lack
of snow hadn’t quite been written yet.
“I’m procrastinating,”
I told him, Andrew seemed to
admire my honesty, and admitted that he was pretty good at doing that to He had a bit of pride in his voice. Yes, it does lurk in the
male psyche, So I understood him, I think.
“You were right about the story,” Andrew said after greeting me Monday morning. I
gave him my usual dull look, and responded with “Huh?”
“The snow!” he said.
“Oh right, right,” I
replied with a slow smile.
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| This was David's last column. I chuckle to myself, I don't think this is one he would have wanted to go out on... This is one of my last pictures of David, taken on a snow-less Christmas Eve hike in Beaver Creek State Park. Later that winter hard snows came while I was alone and caused a lot of damage that I was not prepared for. |
See, for the past
month I’ve been meaning to write about our
wimpy winter: First it was the warm weather angle. How is the above-freezing weather
affecting farmers? I made mental notes at the Redwood Cafe one day as Kenneth Meyer and Mike Carpenter explained the hazards of freezing and thawing on alfalfa fields.
How are loggers
faring with the muddy ground? How about
trappers, ice fishermen? There’s no safe ice!
Jane
Palen was going to interview business people. NO snow can mean no business for
places that rely on snow and snowmobilers. We were going to divide and conquer
and write an award winning story!
I even started taking pictures; 1 took one of Meyer’s snow removal
equipment sitting on his green lawn, I eyed the golf cart that sat in the back
of Paul Weichert’s pickup. Golfing in January? There’s a story.
I talked to Fred Kruckow
as he tinkered with a snowmobile that he was selling for his son. I took notes about the pros and cons of the mild weather on
Kruckow’s gravel and snow plowing business. He told me that it’s easier
starting equipment and getting things done. But then again there isn’t any snow
removal, so that hurts their income: Seems like there are always pluses and
minuses, no matter what the weather,
All that ended Sunday night when the snow started falling. Then
Andrew put an official end to the story Monday morning as he congratulated me
on my God-given skill of putting something off.
We only received about six inches of snow But it’s a start, Now I
say, like our great president, “Bring it on!” I like snow. I like how it looks
and feels. I like how it lets me brag to Cousin Barb out there in the middle of
the Pacific Ocean. We are Minnesotans, We’re tough.
Then maybe I can write an. article about all the snow we get, That’s
always a good story
But then again, if I wait long enough, it will melt.
