Sun? Sun? Uhh, I'm Not Sure What That is.
This is Minnesota! The frigid north. The icebox of the lower 48. Home of both International Falls and Embarras who regularly vie for the cold spot in the country. Yet, since the week before Christmas we have not had a single day with any temperature below 20 degrees F. In fact most of those days have had a low temp higher than the normal high.

It's all because of the clouds. They came- and they have stayed. Until today we have only had just a little more than 2 hours TOTAL real, honest, yellow/golden sunshine in the past two weeks. We've had rain drizzle, and some snow spritzes. A little storm of snow last week, but nothing else. Finally today the forecast was wrong in our favor and we had a whole day of sun. I actually SAW a sunrise AND a sunset in one day. But then it's back to the clouds for a few more days.

But one of these days--- one of these days--- the upper air flow will shift and once again we will proudly proclaim our winter misery of icebox cold. But until then, I'll keep watching for that big yellow UFO in the southern sky which, after today, I know is still on the other side of those clouds.

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at cloud that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.
--Joni Mitchell