I was sent a long list of things you might do if you live in Minnesota by a graduate of my high school. You can find this same litany on several places if you search for "if you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice".
It is cute but the variations can be way off the mark.
I've lived in Minnesota for a total of 35 years, almost nine in Duluth. The variant that I received had many factual errors.
I know ice fishing is popular, but I think it is a lot of effort to get food.
Mille Lacs is not the coldest place in the country. Embarrass, Minnesota often is. The rest of Minnesota can be ten degrees warmer.
Some Dairy Queen's are open year around. They sell quick lunches as well as frozen custard.
Twice in 130 years has Duluth gotten over 131 inches of snow in a season (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/climate/top10snow/topten_all_wntr.php). Lots of snow might be 25 inches in a week. The Twin Cities had about 25 inches on Halloween 1991 and Duluth had 36. But on another Halloween the Twin Cities temperature was above 70.
I have seen many people underdressed in cold weather. We saw a college student walking bareheaded with the temperature just above zero. I saw a young woman walk into a coffee shop with heavy mittens, a light jacket, and a shirt unbuttoned down three buttons.
Vacation to me means going north an hour to our cabin to cut wood. It also means going to Japan or Ontario.
I measure distance both in miles and hours. Hours make sense when talking about driving time. Doesn't everybody give hours for plane, train, and bus trips?
I know few people who have hit deer more than once. I'm one of them, both times at night.
My wife does use A/C in winter to clear fog on her windshield.
Two feet of snow just about closes everything down. I've known events to be canceled when there is four inches of new snow! And we recently saw a flipped pickup truck with just a bit of glaze on the road.
Don't I wish the potholes were filled with snow.
There are only two seasons in Minnesota: winter and road construction. Actually, we do have all four seasons; spring and fall can be strikingly beautiful. See my photos on Flickr. See the Brimson and Duluth sets.
Can't we all identify many accents other than our own? I recently knew that a priest officiating at a memorial service was Irish. Sure enough, the program gave his name as O'Shea.
I don't figure I'm Down South until I get to Missouri.
Gosh, when was the last time I went to a fish fry. I am overdue for fish and chips at my favorite brew pub.
Frost on the Fourth of July? Never heard of it. But it reportedly has snowed in every month except July some year or other.
I'd have to use my snow blower in the whole precinct to put more miles on it than my car. Of course, if more people cleared their sidewalks I'd drive less.
Ten degrees is good skiing weather. Twenty degrees is good outdoor working weather. I wear a sweater indoors in our 62 degree house. However, see above about bare-skinned people.
