We had three crazy days of winter weather this past APRIL weekend. I’m talking the second biggest snowstorm in Wisconsin ever. 24 inches of snow in 48 hours.
We loved every second of it. For us, playing in the snow is one of life’s great pleasures. Obviously not everyone felt that way as they dug themselves out from two feet of drifting snow. Facebook was full of “I Hate Snow” memes. Parents bemoaned being forced to stay inside two whole days with their family (The horror!). And I don’t think I ever saw so many references to being ” trapped at home” in my life.
I get it. I do. There are crap things that come with weather. And I admit we are blessed to be able to focus on the fun. We have good outdoor gear to keep us dry and warm. It didn’t flood, the roof didn’t collapse, and we didn’t lose power. We had a fridge full of food, a reliable car, and we weren’t expected to make it to work during the blizzard. These are things I DO NOT take for granted.
And still, my family had all the unfortunate things happen to them (except maybe the roof) while I was growing up. Flooded basements, stranded cars, no power, and little income to fix those problems. I heard some grumbling and possibly some swearing now and then, but what I remember most was their Wisconsin Spirit.
You know the Wisconsin Spirit. I’m betting you’ve seen it in action many times. You’ve probably even experienced it a time or two yourself. It comes from our pioneer relatives surviving the worst, grandparents living through The Great Depression and World War II, and generation after generation persevering through fickle, unpredictable, and sometimes cruel Wisconsin weather.
To me, it means looking at tough times as a challenge. Saying “I got this!” It’s having a sense of humor when things aren’t easy. It’s working hard at something (say shoveling, shoveling, and more shoveling) and feeling a sense of accomplishment for a job well done.
It’s helping your neighbor shovel their walk or snow-blow their driveway, stopping to help a car get unstuck, sitting through a 3-hour Packers game in the dead of winter, grilling out in the middle of an April blizzard, and making margaritas using that blizzard’s freshly fallen snow.
This weekend lots of our fellow Wisconsinites made the best of the situation. A friend’s new neighbor took the opportunity to meet his neighbors and get to know them better while he was out shoveling. I saw more than a few guys on Instagram grilling out in the snow. One grilling photo was perfectly captioned, “When you refuse to let Wisconsin ruin your spring.” Or my favorite blizzard post from @LovingAwarenessSanctuary:
To me, three snow days in a row was an incredible gift. We didn’t have to be anywhere. We couldn’t run errands even if we wanted to, and there were no to-do lists. We had three days of family time. We made brownies from scratch, watched Coco, read a ton of books, built snow forts, went sledding, took walks in the blizzard, drank a lot of hot chocolate, and repeatedly checked the news sites for updated snow totals. I heard “This is so much fun!” come out of my son’s mouth so often I thought he was being sarcastic. But no, he loved the adventure of it all. We’ll both fondly remember Blizzard Evelyn for the rest of our lives.
So I raise my steaming mug of hot chocolate to all of the dogs, children, and children-at-heart who embraced the Wisconsin Spirit and found a way to make the best of Blizzard Evelyn. To the Wisconsin Spirit!
I love your “take lemons and make lemonade” spirit. I’m not big on snow sports but when you are warm and have plenty of food , it is great to NOT HAVE TO go anywhere. We made soup, binge-watched The Magicians and did some reading.
Sounds like you made the most of it as well!
Terra. Fun reading. Thank you for sharing your gentle take on gifts that you and your son received from storm Evelyn. It warmed my soul.
Oh, I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you.