Every morning when I get up and stumble toward the kitchen for some coffee, I catch the view out the big picture window and am slightly shocked: that thin blanket of snow that was there yesterday morning--still there. It's not much snow; not even enough to fully obscure dirt and short grasses. The thing that gets me, after eight years away from the Minnesota winter, is that it persists. In Illinois the temperature hovers too close to zero to get a persistent snow cover. Even the biggest lake effect storms can't dump enough to last more than a week or two. It's one of the little things that I missed about Minnesota, the white winter. Some other "little things" I didn't miss, and am now extremely annoyed by them. Using the word "pop" instead of "soda." Pro-life billboards everywhere. Slow drivers who don't understand that the left is a passing lane. The lack of extra-firm tofu (though this might be related to the size of the town more than the state). Check writing--who writes checks? Even Visa Checkcard abandoned their "checks are too hard" campaign for a "cash is too slow" campaign. CASH is too slow. That liquor is only available in liquor stores. Self-bagging at the groceries. Expensive milk. Like I said, "little things." I suppose in a few months' time, I'll be obliviously meandering down the fast lane and a wiz at bagging--but if you catch me writing out a check at the McDonald's drive-thru window, please kick me in the head.