Winter.....better late than never!

The week started with plans to travel back to Cedar Falls, IA for some obligations and to visit family. Enter, winter storm 2007. Minnesota got blasted by a pretty good storm leaving about 12 inches in my yard over the weekend. That killed the driving plans on friday and left an open weekend at home. It's refreshing to know that it actually does snow still in the great state of Minnesota, as the past few months have been pretty discouraging. I love the snow, and really feel that if you are going to live somewhere with winter that it should be embraced. It's hard to see the skis, snowshoes and ice climbing gear sit in the closet while I stare aimlessly at the dead grass in my yard. I was happy to shovel the snow and even made a huge pile in the yard to dig a snow shelter. I thought it might be fun to dig a snow cave and sleep in it one night.......I will keep you posted on those plans.

On the bad news front: I went into work to set some bouldering routes on the climbing wall in my office saturday. While climbing, I seem to have suffered a significant tendon injury to my left ring finger. I have injured fingers before, but this one was accompanied by a pop, a sign that is not good from what I have read. The problem with tendon injuries is that they take a long time to heal. In my case, I also get tortured by people climbing all around me every day while I hang out with my gimp hand and talk to them. I will probably make a trip to the doctor on this one as the pain seems to be significant. Grrrr.

Back to good news! The wife and I headed out today to enjoy the fresh snow at a nature preserve near our house. The Dodge Nature Center is a great natural area right in the middle of West Saint Paul....(WSP to the local homies). They have a lot of trails through wetlands, woods and prairie that make you feel like you are a lot farther from the city than you actually are. We enjoyed a great snowshoe hike enjoying making fresh tracks on the trail and enjoying the trees dusted with last nights snow. We were even treated to several deer running through the woods.