Downtown Owl

I lived in greater Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota (twin cities as it were separated by the Red River) for a full 20 years about 20 years ago.  And although this part of the U.S. was approximately 500 miles northwest of my place of birth in Wisconsin, it was worlds different.  Here's a quick list I remember off the top of my head:

• Some in Fargo/Moorhead or F/M for short actually wear cowboy boots and hats and go to rodeos on a regular basis.  F/M felt like the start to the West, at least from my POV.
• ¨Mountain Removal Project Complete¨ was a sign on Interstate 94 near Bismarck, North Dakota.  It was to assure drivers that it wasn't just their perception, North Dakota is really flat.   ¨Snow doesn't melt in the spring, it just wears out,¨ another colloquialism.  A 20 mph wind is a breeze in F/M and there was always a slight breeze.  There's nothing to stop the wind so snow, even small amounts of it blows around until something stops it.  As the winds shift, so blows the snow, thus wearing it out, as it were.
• Block heaters were new to me when I moved to F/M.  One needs to be installed in your car to insure it will start in the morning during the winter, even if said car is parked in a garage.  Fluids in the block freeze up without a block heater because of the severe cold.  It was also necessary to start your car at noon and let it run for several minutes during an eight hour work day so the car starts at 5 pm.  When I lived there external outlets were not available to plug in a block heater.  The only way to get a car running again after it had frozen up was to get it towed to a garage with space to bring it inside so the whole thing could thaw.  During really cold spells these spaces were very full.
• At -30 F water, hot or cold, thrown outside with a bucket will freeze before it hits the ground.  It always amazed me when I saw it.  Nature can be quick if it wants to be.
• Shelter belts - trees planted in strategic places to keep the wind and snow accumulating in appropriate spaces  -- were very important.  They could help reduce heating bills and time spent shoveling driveways during the winter.  I'd never heard the term until my time in F/M.
• Artic Clipper is the name given to winds that come from the north dropping temperatures 50 or more degrees F within minutes.  If they arrived with snow the condition is called a Whiteout.  A whiteout is a condition where it is impossible to see anything beyond 10 feet in front of you.  If you've experienced one you know the type of terror they can produce.

What it feels like in a whiteout

During a winter in the mid 1980's an Artic Clipper with snow was predicted to blow through F/M.  I worked about 30 minutes from home and left work 2 hours early still needing to pick up two young kids on the way. Since part of the trip required driving through open country about three miles (aka, there's no place to seek shelter) I stayed on city streets, well really Hwy 10, which in essence is a four-lane street (two going each direction with a frontage road to businesses of either side).  This meant the overall trip home would take longer than 30 minutes.  About 10 minutes from home the whiteout hit.  I was driving west and the wind and snow was blowing from north to south.  Within minutes enough snow accumulated on the engine that it stalled the car right on that street/highway.  Amazingly, I didn't panic. 

There seemed to be two options, sit in the car with my two young sons in the back seat and wait to be rear-ended or get all three of us out of the car into a barber shop I had spotted just before the car stopped.  Both came with inherit dangers.  The street was frequently used by semi-trailer trucks and should one hit my Oldsmobile Cutlass at any rate of speed we could be seriously hurt.  On the other hand, carrying one two-year old and coaxing a five-year old to stay close was no small feat.  The car was a two-door and both kids were in car seats, they had to be freed and then we needed to take the treacherous trip across three lanes and down a ditch to the frontage road.  There was no seeing more than 10 feet in front of your face and with the wind howling it was impossible to hear any oncoming cars or trucks.  I chose to get out the car and impress on the boys they needed to do exactly what I said.  This is absolutely opposite of what common knowledge cautioned people to do in this situation.  Stay in the car was always considered the best option.  In my mind in this situation it was not the best option

And within moments we were off the street and in the barber shop.  No close calls, no scares, but from the barber shop it was not possible to see what problems my abandoned car might be causing out on the highway.  Within 30 minutes the storm had blown through.  Miraculously the car had been towed to a garage and by the time it was safe to travel again my car could be retrieved and we drove the 10 minutes home.  There was no harm, no foul, no scars, just that memory and apparently only for me.  I've not forgotten that decision and how lucky I was to have it work out so well.  I did the one thing one is told NOT to do in leaving the car, and we all survived.

All this is a very long prelude to the book Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman, a F/M writing hero because he grew up in a small town close to the area (Breckenridge, Minnesota, for those curious).   You are more than likely saying:  WHO?  Here's a quick link to help you meet Mr. Klosterman.  He also has a Wikipedia page if you need to know more.  

The book Downtown Owl, published in 2008 focuses on many of the unique topics I listed above and on the problem of alcoholism in rural North Dakota which is sparsely populated with a smattering of small towns.  I read the book in one setting and it took me back to that time and place in my life where a whiteout left a lasting impression on me.  Pick up the book if your interest has been piqued, or pick it up to see what living in small town Western North Dakota might be like 30 years ago and probably still today.  Your investment in time will be small.  Perhaps you'll be moved to think about your own personal encounter with Mother Nature.