It's Never Too Cold to Buy Shoes

It has been really cold in Minnesota this week. We are heading into our 3rd day of below zero temps. This morning when I woke up it was -24 with windchill factors in the -5o. It reminds me of the first winter I lived in Minnesota. I moved here from Indiana, where if the temp dared to go below zero, schools closed, store shelves were bare and everyone hunkered down until the temperatures were moderate.

The winter of 83-84 broke a lot of records for both snow and cold. I remember in December, Mark wanted to go skiing. I replied "It is only 15 degrees out. I"ll go skiing when it is a little warmer." Did I mention the temp didn't get above 20 until March that year?

Such was my mindset one cold January Saturday morning. I was disappointed when I woke up to find the temp hovering at -35 degrees. You see, I had plans for that day. I was going to go shoe shopping with Mark's Aunt Joanne and his cousins at Shoe Alee. It was their annual sale, one that was not to be missed. Joanne called me at 9 am to make sure I was ready and when I voiced my doubts about going out in the cold, she said "That's what coats are for." My Mom called to make sure I was still alive in the cold barren north country and was appalled that I would even consider going out when it was so cold.

I ended up with a couple of new pairs of shoes (at a nice bargain I might add) and new respect for my newly adopted state. Minnesota is the land of cold temps but warm hearts and great shoe sales.