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<\/a>There are times in life when friendship becomes paramount<\/strong>.\u00a0 Such was the case last week when one of my closest friend’s husband died after a three month struggle with pancreatic cancer.\u00a0 The funeral services were planned for Minneapolis so a few of us did what good friends do – we made plans to go to Minnesota to support our friend.\u00a0 It all sounded fine until someone asked me, “What is a California girl like you going to wear?”\u00a0 Hmmmmm…good question.\u00a0 I still have my ski socks and Ugg’s so I knew my toes would be toasty<\/strong>.\u00a0 As for the rest of me, my good friend Patsy offered to loan me her sheared beaver coat for the trip.\u00a0 Now that<\/em> is a friend!\u00a0 So off we went, bundled with coats, scarves and gloves, ready for the tundra.<\/p>\nThat afternoon we went into Minneapolis for the services.\u00a0 It had begun snowing in the morning<\/strong> and would continue until early evening.\u00a0 A block from our destination two cars in front of us slid and crashed, adding to our anxiety.\u00a0 Between needing to wear four layers of clothing (which is a hassle when one needs to use the rest room) and navigating the snow to go anywhere I wondered to myself why anyone would live in that climate.\u00a0 Later that night, a large group of us ate at Gianni’s Steakhouse<\/strong>, a fabulous restaurant which I understand has a lovely patio out back.\u00a0 All I saw was white.\u00a0 Around midnight we decided to walk back to our hotel, a distance of four blocks.\u00a0 After all, it was only -5 with the wind-chill.\u00a0 But on that walk, with no traffic in the street and a crystal clear sky, I loved the quiet, peaceful feeling of crunching through the snow.\u00a0 It seemed like the perfect way to end such a sorrowful day.<\/p>\n Back home in Arizona, I held a new appreciation for the warmth.\u00a0 I guess I really am a California\/Arizona girl at heart because I did learn this: if I ever have to live in that cold climate I’m going to learn to wear adult diapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson There are times in life when friendship becomes paramount.\u00a0 Such was the case last week when one of my closest friend’s husband died after a three month struggle with pancreatic cancer.\u00a0 The funeral services were planned … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ice-fishing-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>My only other venture to the North Country was driving Interstate 90 from Chicago to Mt. Rushmore.\u00a0 But that was in July, when our vistas were lush, green fields and wide open spaces.\u00a0 In contrast, last week all I saw was white.\u00a0 We stayed in Wayzata,<\/strong> a charming city on the north shore of Lake\u00a0Minnetonka.\u00a0 At least that’s what they told me. All I saw was white snow banks, tapering down to a very large expanse of more white.\u00a0 They told me that was the lake.\u00a0 In the middle of the “lake” I could see some huts and, unbelievably, a couple of pick up trucks!\u00a0 How could that be a lake?\u00a0 One of the locals explained that they were ice fishing huts<\/strong> and that people drove out to them.\u00a0 In fact, at times when people have been over-served at the local pubs, they actually have drag racing out on the lake.\u00a0 It gave me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it – what if the ice cracked?\u00a0 My California was beginning to show.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Maggies-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>But as I say, Wayzata is a cute little town and we were told that Maggie’s Restaurant<\/strong> was the place to go for breakfast.\u00a0 So our first morning we put on endless pieces of clothing and ventured out to see what the excitement was about.\u00a0 Maggie’s is a typical greasy spoon diner – linoleum floors, Formica table tops, and waitresses with attitude.\u00a0 As the three of us nestled into a booth our waitress came over and asked if we’d like coffee.\u00a0 My friend Terri, a former model who is always dressed to the 9’s, asked if she could have a cappuccino.<\/strong>\u00a0 The waitress began to shake her head and said, “This is Maggie’s.\u00a0 You can have coffee or you can have coffee.”\u00a0 You just know she wanted to end that sentence with “princess”.\u00a0 We moved on to food, something Maggie’s is famous for.\u00a0 Knowing that we would not eat again until dinner, we ordered like we were embarking on a 10 day trek – eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, French toast.\u00a0 Our order came quickly, plates filling every square inch of the table.\u00a0 The waitress came back to check on things and with a bemused smile, looked at Terri and asked, “Would you like some more cappuccino?”<\/p>\n