Winter Carnival ~ 125 Years

from flickr user MSPdude
The first St. Paul Winter Carnival was held in 1886, 125 years ago. It was supposedly originally started as a response to a New York newspaper that called St. Paul "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter.

Goyle the Gatekeeper

from flickr user web@kstp.com
From the St. Paul Winter Carnival, this is the Vulcan's choice snow sculpture entitled "Goyle the Gatekeeper".

Cardinal in the Frost

from flickr user Tory's Captive Light
If you thought that Cardinals had a native habitat of the St. Louis, MO area, you are wrong. This vibrant Cardinal is perched on a frosty tree branch right here in Minnesota.

By The Water

from flickr user monolight
To steal descriptions of this photos from its comments, I have to agree that the surreal lighting gives this Lake Superior shorescape an otherworldly appearance complete with glassy-looking black rocks and an almost alien skyscape.

icy reflection

from flickr user dtreddinick13
Taken in the Shakopee area of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, this icy reflection is striking to me because of the lack of context. It makes the mind reel at the possibilities of what the surroundings look like. Is it a huge expanse of water? Is it isolated or feet from a four-lane freeway? That's all part of the mystery.

Carving the Ice Throne

from flickr user thefullcup
If it's late January it must be St. Paul Winter Carnival time and this black and white photo nicely captures the action involved in carving the ice throne for the festivities.

Waves of Ice

from flickr user Bryan Hansel
Waves washing over the icy Lake Superior shoreline (near Grand Marais). Last night's southwest winds gusting to 30 mph built waves on the big lake. This is the result.

U.S. Pond Hockey Championships

from flickr user CJDanek
This weekend brought the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships to the frozen tundra of Minneapolis and Lake Nokimis in particular. With temps Friday well below zero, the hardy teams got a very real taste of outdoor hockey in Minnesota.

Sundogs At Sunset

from flickr user djsime
To say that the past few days here in Minnesota were cold would be an understatement but at least as a byproduct of the extreme cold we are treated to scenes such as these sundogs on a barren and frozen southern Minnesota landscape.

Snow tires

from flickr user peterHDK
The close-up nature of this photo is what intrigued me most with what appears to be a bicycle wheel with snow precariously perched upon it.

St. Paul, Minnesota

from flickr user hark my lord
A night shot of downtown St. Paul while on a bike ride near the Mississippi River.

Note the couple kissing under the street light.

Snow Trees

from flickr user kmno2168
Path near Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. Lots of people start in this area when they get going on their snowmobiles.

High Falls in the Winter

from flickr user s.kosoris
Now that's some ice. The Pigeon River's high falls, along the Ontario/Minnesota border, do freeze to a certain extent but some open water remains even in the middle of January.

Lines

from flickr user heinz57sauce
A cold Minnesota sunrise through a row of trees casts a series of perfect lines on the newly fallen snow.

Mankato Glow

from flickr user ateevans
Nighttime view of Mankato from Riverview Park.

St. Paul view from a rooftop

from flickr user Light The Underground
St. Paul, as bland as people brand it to be, looks rather impressive lit up on a recent winter evening.

Polar plunge at Lake Minnetonka

from flickr user tabbea
Whether it's lunacy or the result of the inevitable hangover, each New Year's morning in Excelsior, MN dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of Minnesotans jump in to the frigid waters of Lake Minnetonka and live to do it again the next year.

First Avenue

from flickr user Dave Glad
Minneapolis' historic and iconic music club, First Avenue.

Cold and Empty

from flickr user djsime
Near blizzard conditions gave this park [in the small southern Minnesota town of Alden] a cold and empty feeling on Friday.

Frozen Fingers

from flickr user nathan.langholz
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, MN

Uptown Theater

from flickr user austins
A very unique perspective on the iconic Uptown Theater signage. Proof that even some of the most-photographed scenes can be fresh and new when looked at from a different perspective.

SNOW!

from from flickr user Coopet Photography
With yesterday's ultra-fluffy snowfall, the photographer decided that an opprtunity like that should not be wasted.

Ski Racer

from flickr user squarelogo
Junior racer at the Buddy Werner race at Buck Hill [in Burnsville, MN]. These kids rip!

Prairie Tree

from flickr user Steve Zimmerman Images
It's not often in this digital age to see photographers of any caliber still using film but when a medium format camera (a Hasselblad in this case) captures such magnificent images as this one of a lonely, frosty tree in western Minnesota, I'd choose film over digital as well.

Minneapolis from above

from flickr user MSPdude
A snowy approach to Minneapolis. Clearly visible are both Target Field and Target Center. Sadly, as this is the western side of downtown Minneapolis, the shamble-riffic Metrodome isn't visible.