This morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground and cold temperatures. It was all of 7 degrees (F) outside. And a lot more snow is expected, with the National Weather Service predicting a 100 percent (!) chance of snow tomorrow as a low-pressure system moves in from the southwest.

The impending storm makes me thankful that we purchased winter tires for our only car last winter. You can see the tread of our Michelin X-Ice tires in the photo above. I had the tires installed again in early November as this winter got underway.

I had never used winter tires before, despite having lived in Minnesota for most of my life. I drive carefully and, aside from some slipping and sliding at the beginning of each winter driving season as I become reacquainted with slick roads, have had few problems.

My opinion on winter tires changed last year when, after one of the first snowfalls of the season, I put too heavy a foot on the brakes, foolishly locked them up (failing to pump them), and slid into a curb on a quiet residential street. That messed up our car’s tie rods and required an expensive repair. That experience, reinforced by my wife’s fears of driving in winter (she is a Southerner), led me to do some research on winter tires. Read the rest of this entry »

Today the Northfield area submitted its grant proposal to the Safe Routes to Schools program, which in Minnesota is administered by our state Department of Transportation. Our proposal is for what is called a “non-infrastructure” grant. That is, we’re not proposing to build anything with the money we might receive. Instead we would use the money to do planning and technical analysis of safe routes around schools and to create educational, encouragement, law enforcement, and evaluation programs that support children walking and biking to school.

Our proposed project is called “Pathways to Healthier Students (PaTHS): Planning Enhanced Access to Northfield Schools.” The proposal asks for $15,000 for the planning/technical analysis component (most of which would be used to hire an engineering firm), $10,000 for education and encouragement programs, and $5,000 for law enforcement programs (including crossing guard training and equipment). The project would involve Northfield Public Schools’ three elementary schools and its Middle School. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was a glorious autumn day, and I enjoyed playing in the leaves with my family. My three-year-old daughter and I went outside into the warm afternoon sun and made our way to a maple tree that had dropped most of its leaves. The leaves were muted yellows and tans, rather small, light and dry, easily crumbled.

I raked the leaves into a large pile and my daughter was thrilled to run and jump into it and to pile the leaves onto her dad and to be buried herself in a light layer. I can still hear her voice filled with joy: “Daddy, do it again!”… “Daddy, now you lie down!”

She especially enjoyed throwing the leaves at me. I threw them at her and up into the air too, a natural confetti blown by the wind. At some point my wife joined us and we all threw leaves at each other.

And I made an effort to remember. As my daughter ran to the leaf pile in joy, ready to jump into it, I made sure to count my blessings, to try to fix in my mind this time when she was so small. Because she will change, of course, because she has changed, because everybody insists on reminding me of that constant change when I know that sad but necessary fact already.

And so I took a mental snapshot of that time, and I write it down and place it here now, when the day - only one day later - has already changed to a blustery winter day and I sit here, content and alone.