confessions of a contemplative cornball

So I just keep having the weidest experiences ever here in Minnesota. On Saturday I got to go to Rochester to go Ebay shopping (finally!). It is a bigger city about 45 minutes away from where we live, and to get there you head east on I-90 past a whole lot of nothing. Minnesota is not big on lights on the freeways - even the major highways, not just the ones that go nowhere, which I dont understand. It is not safe and with all the snow and ice, a little lights could help, people! So on my way there the wind was INSANE blowing snow snakes across the freeway that were going at least 50 mph. Visibility was next to nothing and there was a sad, frozen, deceased squirrel right in the middle of the road - how does ANYTHING survive here? Today we couldnt do laundry because the door to our complex's laundry room was frozen shut and the maintenance man is out of town. We got a memo on our door from the management; "you may find that some snowstorms cause a snowdrift that blocks your exit from your home. IF this happens, please call us and we will do our best to dig you out." I am not acquainted with problems like these, and I just cant get over it!

...My sister in law Tiffani was telling me the other day how the Egyptians had a very benevolent idea of God - every year the river Nile flooded predictably, watering crops, and making life easy and enjoyable. They thought life was great, wanted to live forever, and thought God to be noble and good. In contrast, the Mesopotamians did not fare as well with the Euphrates River, which would flooded unpredictably, destroying houses, crops, and animals. They thought the Gods to be mean beings who destroyed humans for sport. I think I might be despairing if I had only ever known Minnesota, or had to stay here more than ... well more than about one winter!
Anyways, I am getting off topic - I always seem to end up ranting and raving about the weather - cuz it is just so crappy! So driving up was crazy, and I was scared I had marooned myself and wouldnt be able to make the trip home safely (oh yes, though, it was worth it, I got some amazing finds!). So after a long, fun day of shopping, I left. The conditions were much better, but still bad enough that driving 55 mph scared me to death. But the most amazing/magical/mystical thing happened. I was getting so tired of my slow crawl across the frozen tundra, and felt so worried and tense, but then I got about halfway home, to a city called Dexter, MN. That city has literally a couple hundred giant windmills and that's it.

I had driven past it in the day but never in the dead dark of night. In the day, you look all around you and for miles and miles they are everywhere - these huge, slowly spinning windmills. That night, my car climbed over a hill and then all the sudden all around me were all these red lights - everywhere! Each windmill has a light on it so that planes dont crash into them, and for whatever reason, they are timed to all light up at the same time for about 4 seconds, and then go off for 4 seconds, then on for 4 seconds... like that. I was listening to Ugly Cassanova - and the song 'things I dont remember' came on - and it just so happened that without me doing a thing, the lights going on and off were timed perfectly with the song! It was so bizarre - especially when I got to the middle of the city, and the lights were all around me, blinking. In front of me, on my sides, and in my rearview mirror, there was nothing - no other lights, no other cars. Just a black void and tiny red blinking lights going on and off in unison with my music. I felt like I was in another realm or on another planet. You know how a song can get stuck in your head? Well now, that song is stuck in my head, but with blinking lights. I feel like if you grew up in that town, your mind would be blinking on and off always. And if you ever tried to leave the town it would always feel like you were missing something. This is such a weird blog entry and its getting a little artsy and funny and even philosophical, but at that moment, I felt like there was nothing in the world except me, those lights, that song, and darkness.
It is funny - I am used to sharing my life with Ryan, but it made me realize that there are so many of lifes experiences that you never can really share with anyone. Somehow it made me feel like the Lord is aware of me and gave me a special experience because he knew I would appreciate it for its strangeness and beauty.

yes, in case you were wondering, I am a dork.