I sit in a cozy, little art gallery looking at a landscape painting on a wall. It’s called Treeline by Alyssa Baguss. Trying to find it’s meaning, I write about what I see. I decided on this painting because it is a winter image, and it makes me curious because of the abstract way it was painted.

I see white. White all across the painting. White like a clean, brand new, piece of paper just before it's written on. But there’s more. The details are so unique. It's very interesting that with just dots the artist could form trees and a ground with me knowing that's what it is. If I tried to make anything with dots that's all it would look like: dots. There is a whole tree line of white trees, some intermingled, some all by themselves, but all part of something bigger. It's a Minnesota winter. All the way across, pink dots make up the ground. The pink ground represents a uniqueness to the culture we, as Minnesotans, experience because of the cold, harsh winters and warm, beautiful summers. My parents have always told me I like to do things different from everybody else, and having a lifestyle unique from any other state satisfies that need for individuality. I love the summer, but the cold winters make it that much sweeter to jump into a lake.

I've seen Minnesota winters before and it's white on the trees, ground, houses, cars and anything else that's outside and will get covered. The snow is a heavy quilt like one my great grandma would make for me. It reminds me of a heavy snow on a Sunday night and the feeling of excitement because there may be a delay or cancellation of school and an extension of the weekend. I imagine the snowy trees on the edge of a cornfield right here in Park Rapids. I smell potatoes as I drive by RDO and see the fields in the middle of December. Not just the snow but the cold as well, freezing anything not covered by a layer of clothing. Sitting in a warm car, not wanting to get out because it’s below zero. The list goes on and on but the goods always outweigh the bad.

The snowy trees remind me of all the things I do outside in the winter. I love hunting and sitting up in a stand with snow all around and the wind biting my cheeks. I hear the squirrels and birds as they make a tune for me as I sit there and wait for a big buck to come walking through. I love and have a deep respect for the wilderness and what it provides for us. My dad has always taught me not to hunt just to kill but to instead of hunt for sport and for a love and respect for the hunt. This last year I shot one smaller buck and one bigger one. I was very thankful because we (my dad, brother, and I) don't always see deer, let alone bigger ones. Hunting isn’t technically in the winter but it seems like there is almost always snow and cold so it feels like winter.

I also love ice fishing. The trees aren't on the lake obviously, but they surround our lakes and are all over on every drive to a lake. My dad and I go on an ice fishing trip every year to Leech Lake. We go with some of our friends and their friends and family. It's very fun and we always fish together and move around until we find a great spot to fish. Usually the resort owners tell us they were catching fish the weekend before we were up there and now they’ve quit biting now that we are there. It is always our luck but hopefully it will change one year. This last year my dad and I also went up to Lake of the Woods. It was very fun because I had never been up there before. It was different from lakes around Park Rapids because once we go out there we couldn't see the trees on the other side of the lake. We had a slow day but ended up catching some nice walleyes. As we drove off of the lake the giant bobber dropped out of the sky making ripples of color that faded into nothing. Memories like these will always stick with me and I can't wait to make more white memories.

 The white trees make me think of the lack of trees in Iowa. Every year for Christmas my family drives down there to visit family. The scenery is a lot different in Iowa. There are fields everywhere with a few trees here and there and farm houses scattered like pepperonis on a pizza. Majority of my mom’s and my dad’s family live there and if they don't, many of them will travel there for Christmas, like us. I remember one time it was storming and snowing as we made our way down to Guthrie Center, Iowa, and it took twelve hours to make it. It usually takes about eight but traffic was slowed way down and we had to stop a couple times. Our winters and snow will always have their ups and downs. When I’m in Iowa I think of how lucky we are as Minnesotans to have all of the trees we do. I think of how much different my life would be if my parents hadn’t decided to move. Never getting to experience a Minnesota winter with evergreens and snowmobiles. Never ice fishing or going to school when we just received a foot of snow. I see white, the white that fills so many of my beloved memories because it's part of living in Minnesota no matter what I do. The snow is inevitable, so for us, it's how we adjust our plans for it because it clearly won't change for us. It builds character having to freeze on the way to school because I overslept and didn't let my truck warm up first. Some people don't even know what snow or cold are, but I can't imagine life without them. I can’t wait to have more winter experiences  and fill in a painting with my own memories.