Backyard Almanac

While romance is in the pre-Valentine's air for wild canids ... these two Pileated Woodpeckers are just having a nice dinner together.

Snowshoe hares and squirrels are dancing; foxes, wolves and coyotes are singing ... and as always, Larry Weber is the head cheerleader.

We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of -60 below in Tower, MN this coming week!

Don't let them begin the benign, let it snow Let the clippers of winter dip south and begin to deep-freeze me Let the windchills that stuttered my heart continue to seize me And we suddenly know, it's El Nino we're in When they begin the benign.... (with apologies to Cole Porter)

1959.  One of the best-selling cars in the US was the "fins and flash" Ford Fairlane. Kids were rockin' 'round the clock to Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, the Platters, the Coasters ... and more than a few Northland teens had seen Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Frankie Valens and the Big Bopper at the Winter Dance Party  in January at the Duluth Armory. Folks shopped at Kresge's or Oreck's Department Store or Glass Block downtown and brought home treats from the Danish Bakery on the west end. Northland Foods was still making and distributing Chun King brand oriental foods, and you could have a nice meal at The Flame restaurant and then take a boat tour on the Streamliner.   In the evening, families gathered in the flickering light of the black and white set to enjoy The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, Rawhide andThe Ed Sullivan Show. 1959.  Oh yeah, that was the last time Duluth made it all the way through December without any subzero temperatures, too.