Minnesota: bitter, cold, home

Sunday night I played my first 2 softball games of the year. It was 37 degrees and windy when we walked off the field at 9:45.

This is life in Minnesota and it's the part of life here that I despise. I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota for all but 2 years of my life and I have yet to embrace the bitter cold that wraps itself around us so many months each year.

Jamie and I frequently talk of moving to warmer weather, usually just venting frustration but always with a bit of heart-felt desire. We've visited California each year we've been married and would love to land in San Diego or maybe somewhere around San Jose.

But the truth is we'll probably never leave and we both know it. Minnesota is home. Jamie's family is 45 minutes away and mine is less than 4 hours away. The longer we're here, the more friendships we build and the deeper those relationships get.

Someone at church who's much older than me told me yesterday to move away now. He said that if you don't like where you live, move before your kids are in school and you still have the flexibility to do so. Otherwise, he said we'd turn into a lot of his friends who never left "while they could" (i.e., before their kids were older) and now complain each year about the weather.

That comment struck me. Lately, despite one of the most brutal winters on record, I've actually felt more attached to the Twin Cities. The longer I'm here, the more I embrace the area. I still hate the cold, but there's more to life than weather.

I don't see my hate for Minnesota winters (and springs and falls) changing any time soon. But it's my decision to live here. Nobody is holding me down. Nobody forces me to stand outside waiting for a bus each day or to play softball in the spring. Minnesota has never been warm year-round and to complain about it each year is fruitless.

So here it goes, Minnesota. I'm going to give it my best shot. No complaining from me. I bought my first pair of winter boots last month and I'm going to get some use out of them next winter. Minnesota weather sucks, but continuing to live in it while constantly complaining about it sucks even more.