Minnesota Monday: Complaining

My husband came home from the store the other day shaking his head. His lips were smiling, but his eyebrows were furrowed in a frown.

"What?" I couldn't help but ask him.

"I just thought of something you could write about on your Minnesota Monday blog post."

By now I was really curious. "What?!"

"I was just at the store and I ran into someone I know. The man looked at me and said: 'Boy! It's way too hot out there!' And it dawned on me. Minnesotans are never happy with the weather! Three weeks ago it was too cold, now it's too hot."

I couldn't help but smile. He's right. Either it's too cold, too hot, too muggy, too dry, or too wet--and everyone likes to talk about it! My grandpa used to say he couldn't tell if Minnesotans were bragging, or complaining, when it came to the weather. Maybe it's a little of both. It seems we not only love to talk about it, but we like to brag that we survive it!

The biggest complaint in Minnesota right now are the mosquitos! It was such a cool, wet spring, and finally it's warm enough to really enjoy the outdoors, but because of the wet weather, we've been bombarded by mosquitos. Just last night we were out at the lake watching fireworks and it was muggy and hot, but everyone had long sleeves and long pants on to stay protected from the pesky bugs.



Photo courtesy of www.aaaai.org

Thankfully, Minnesota has beautiful weather, too--and some of the prettiest countryside in the United States (in my humble opinion). I sometimes think the early pioneers must have come in the summer, been fooled by the beauty and good weather, and then were stuck for the winter. :) If it wasn't for the winter and the mosquitos, I'm convinced Minnesota would be practically perfect...

What about you? What do people complain about where you live? What kept the early settlers in your state?