Only in MN


Snowmobiles. They sound exactly like lawnmowers- loud and annoying. As I was stirring in bed trying to hold on to those last attempts of sleep, I could've sworn that I was back in da city. It could've been my parents' house or our old apartment in Foster City, but it was Saturday mornings when those lawnmowers were loud enough to wake me up. After staying up late the night before, I wanted to relish waking up late. It's bad enough that because we still don't have any window treatment that the sun can't help but brighten our room at the start of the day. I set my alarm clock and of course, I end up hitting the snooze about a couple hundred times when I finally realize that the buzzing I hear isn't from the alarm clock, but from somewhere outside. Dammit.


I didn't quite notice them last winter, but along the roads you've got your normal stop signs and then you've got the mini-stop signs. Yes, mini. I remember thinking, why the heck did they make those stop signs so small? Who'll be able to see them? They weren't directly on the road; rather, they were more on the sidewalk. But then I forget that we're not in da city anymore. They don't have sidewalks out here in these parts- they have trails. And those lil' stop signs aren't for road traffic, they are for snowmobile traffic.


After relating all of this to hubby, he laughs and says that I asked him about all of that last year. I don't remember. I do recall seeing the "tracks" of the snowmobiles, but never the snowmobile itself or the mini-stop signs. Hmmm...I KNOW I'm not losing my mind just yet!


In the city newsletter that we get, I read that snowmobiles are legal to drive. Just the other night, we saw one trying to cut across the roads. It kinda freaked me out actually because it was late at night, it was so dark, and it came out from nowhere. (btw: ALL the roads are dark at night...they must have a thing against street lights...) It made me think that snowmobile drivers were sorta like ninjas in their dark helmets and attire....sans the whole sword and soundless movements thing. LOL!


The day that I was sick, hubby saw a whole gang of them outside. I told hubby that they were probably on their way to Starbucks! (Kinda like how you'd always see a gang of Asian guys on their Honda all-done-up racer motorcycles with their girlfriends holding tight from behind making a mad dash to the Serramonte Starbucks...c'mon, you know what I mean! It never fails that they take up half the parking over there!)


I find that there are still so many things that I learn about the way of life over here. Outdoor activities are THE mainframe here and so whatever the weather and no matter how cold, hot, wet it is, people will be out and about. Blows my mind really. As much as I might, *MIGHT*, try, I don't think I can ever convert to be an outdoor person. It's seriously either too cold, too hot, or too buggy out. (Yes, I put bugs into this category!) If you've been here in summer, you'd know and realize that they deserve their very own category...ewwww. I SO can't wait for spring to come.