Kip’s Comments - December 23, 2022

Weathering the Weather

Today was one of those days when a family member and I were scheduled to travel to Rochester, Minnesota. Some might think that with today’s weather conditions it should have been an immediate decision to forgo the scheduled visit. That is easier to say than to do. We did have a back-up plan, but did not know what we would face on that trip, especially considering the time of that appointment. So, travel to Minnesota we did knowing what our challenges would be.

Our trip northward was not too bad until we were about 15-miles south of the Minnesota border. That was when we first faced intermittent white-out conditions. Since we left early we had plenty of time to slow down and take it easy - which is what we did.

During our drive I wondered what my favorite “Lone Tree” in a field in Minnesota might look like, especially under today’s blustery conditions. We pulled off the road and I photographed the tree from two vantage points. This image shows the tree weathering the weather.

Lone Tree in Blizzard - Image 786287

By investing the effort to make our appointments we were the recipients of fast-tracking since so many others cancelled their appointments. We gained 4-hours of time that allowed us to head back home quickly.

Our drive home was much more interesting. Frequent white-out conditions prevailed. Thankfully the roads were good in most spots, so visibility was clearly our greatest challenge.

We traveled, we made our appointments, we safely returned, and we saw the Minnesota “Lone Tree” that I really like in a blizzard.