Kinda chippy out there, isn’t it

A fence can’t stop those endless sunsets

There is something delightful about small town Americana. Or may be its just this particular town of Baudette located right on the northern border of a very cold Minnesota and a colder Canada.

If you are skeptical about how cold it really gets up here perhaps its best you head out in -27 degree weather (Fahrenheit /Celcius/ whatever) with your best efforts to keep yourself warm. Unless you wear arctic gear, I am certain, that you feel like you are about to freeze to death in approximately 6 minutes.

Somewhere under the snow is the river and beyond is Canada

The roads are never ploughed since that exercise is completely pointless. Instead, asphalt is covered by a uniform layer of packed snow. The entire river that separates it from Canada freezes over. So much so that people drive a tank like vehicles right into middle of it for ice fishing. Sure, the fishes bite. But I bet the cold bites more.

However don’t let the cold belie how warm this town really is. The town is about the same size as my Mechanical Engineering Department in Ann Arbor. The average age of town folk seemed not much lesser then 50. Yet, it is always sunny. It is always white. And the skies in the night are to die for.

This time I continued my usual sliding and slipping on four wheels and working until I dropped dead at my desk. But I also tried my hand at new things. Like visiting a local’s house for an all American dinner that included venison meat from the deer they had hunted in their extremely woody back yard. His stories usually involved the weather and sometimes how deer’s are quite hard to hunt.

I went to a local church for a charity event to support kids who had lost their parents to unfortunate circumstances. The food was all home made and so were the plethora of deserts. The aged locals welcomed us and served us warm food. It was simple, just spaghetti and meatballs. But the homemade brownies with coffee just seemed to make the cold completely disappear.

Ouch! Another goal.

It’s endearing to see a town where no one locks their cars or doors. At the high school Ice hockey game they cheered for everything despite the fact that the home team was losing 7 -1

You feel larger then life in smaller towns. In the Legion bar you are the 5th person they had all night but there isn’t a slightest worry on their faces. Business comes later, always.

I cannot tell you precisely what it is about living in small town America. There are no ambitions, there are no high rises and the most expensive car is only a ridiculous statistic. The supermarket has only four aisles and no wait at the check out line. You feel at peace in these towns. And be it only for three weeks, you forget all that you think is worrisome. Bills, growing older in a most unnoticeable fashion and the daily inter state traffic.

And that’s delightful enough.