Dear God, thank you for balmy, sunny places and sandy beaches with palm trees and seashells. Now, can you please create a WARM snow? One that doesn't bite us in the a....(Sorry). You've got its beauty down pat, but you just gotta raise the freakin' (sorry) temps a bit. Amen.

Truly, why does it have to be so dang frigid? Unfortunately, this warm-blooded, heat-lovin' beach bumb at heart finds that the prettiest season in Minnesota is, indeed, the winter, when the snow fields extend as far as the eye can see, and the stark blue sky creates the perfect backdrop.

So, I bundle up best I can, take a few pictures, then run back inside to the warmth and coziness of my sister's house, drying my eyes, blowing my nose and cursing the bitter cold.

Here are a few pictures taken the last couple of Christmases off of Route 19, just south of the Twin Cities.

As you scroll down, you'll see pictures I've taken in summer months to remind myself that it's not always winter in Minnesota.