Today marks day four of not going above below zero. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the cold of Antarctica but don’t feel like taking a vacation there, you can have the same thrill visiting North Dakota.

Before moving here nearly eleven years ago, I always heard how North Dakota had terrible winters, just plain frigid and blizzards all the time. Along with talk of it being basically the Wild West. I was actually quite nervous to move here with all the horrors of it and even took a pistol safety training class back in Minnesota before I moved. I had visions of me having to defend myself against wild roughnecks out on the dusty highway.

Needless to say, it was nothing like I expected. Most of the winters over the years have been okay, nothing like what I thought it would be. I’ve never encountered wild roughnecks. Actually, besides customer service, people out here are friendlier than the “Minnesota nice” people. And especially over the last few years, I honestly have grown to love this place and wouldn’t want to raise my kids anywhere else.

But this cold spell. It is not a good vibe. It’s so weird because there’s a strangeness to it. Besides it seeming just like what I always heard North Dakota winters were, there’s a desolate feel.

It’s hard to explain. But the absolute frigid cold, the silence, the snow swirling aimlessly down the streets. I imagine what it would have been like here before our town was built. Really just a wasteland. It’s easy to picture because we are just surrounded by country. No lights of cities in the distance.

And the roads are just my biggest fear. I grew up in Minnesota, so I’m not a stranger to much of this. But it was maybe a year before moving out here, that I had my first real incident driving on ice. My older brother had been riding with me, thank goodness, when I’d hit black ice on Hwy 55. He told me don’t push the brake, crank the wheel. There was a dump truck stopped in the middle of the Hwy, no blinkers or hazards on. So I cranked the wheel and hit the ditch. Lady driving behind me slid and smashed into the dump truck. I’ve been nervous of winter driving ever since.

I did go out this afternoon for my weekly sourdough pickup. My sourdough lady had a special for Christmas this week where she had these little bottles of coffee syrups she made. I got a sampler pack and can’t wait to try craft an iced peppermint mocha tomorrow morning.

My oldest daughter is having a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon with her friends, so that’s going to be my agenda for the day. It looks like three new books I ordered should be here tomorrow, and I’m going to be finishing up my prune tarts. Should be a good day!

Hope you guys are having a lovely week!