from the publishers
Cover your feet with a blanket, put the recliner back, adjust your pillow and make sure the cup of cocoa has a coaster beneath it.
We hope that you put on some music, your chair is looking out over the backyard as the snowflakes fall and the logs you tossed into the fireplace are burning brightly and will be for an hour or two. That way you won’t have to disturb the cat that has just snuggled atop your lap for a nap.
This is Minnesota. Well, it’s one version of Minnesota — the indoor version.
Maybe you're an outdoor kind of Minnesotan. You’ve got the mukluks, parka and bomber hat fastened on and you’re ready for adventure. Maybe it’s fishing. Maybe it’s skiing, sledding or snowmobiling. Maybe it’s just going out for a brisk walk in the woods or around the block with the dogs. You inhale deeply and get a rush from the hit of high-octane oxygen.
These are just two scenarios to explain what makes Minnesota such a great place to spend the winter months.
In this issue of Minnesota Moments we salute the people and activities that make this part of the country one that we can boast about to others who look at us as though we are freaks.
Let ‘em look. Let ‘em stare. Let ‘em laugh. We don’t care. Well, maybe a little bit. But we can’t show it because our faces are frozen in this position and will be until April!
To help us bring this issue to you, we've enlisted the help of artist Lisa Webskowski. Lisa received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design from St. Cloud State University. Her professional design career began at Merriman Design Associates in St. Cloud, where she worked on the design team for the Minnesota Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. For the past 11 years, Lisa has been a free-lance police composite artist. She also owns and operates her own illustration business. Currently, Lisa specializes in colored pencil portraits. Her work can be viewed at Extras in Sauk Centre and at her home studio in Alexandria where she resides with her husband, Gary, and daughter, Shannon.
We hope you enjoy Lisa’s work, which will appear in future issues of Minnesota Moments. Give her a warm welcome. She'll need it to keep from freezing.
Mike Nistler and Diane Wimmer