Move completed

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 05:20 PM

Can you tell them what's going on?

We get a lot of international visitors to this website. Some of them may be quite confused by what's going on here at this time of year. If you are a Thai visitor to this site, you might think of how you can explain to our international visitors what is happening. Below are some scenes from around Thailand at this time of year. Can you answer the questions a foreigner might have when they see these photos? If you can't, I have thought of some possible answers for you. 

You can hear the questions and my answers by clicking here. You can see the text of the answers at the bottom on the page.

1. What's happening in the first photo? Do Thai people always act this way? Why is the man doing that to her?

2. Could this happen to me if I come here to Thailand?

 3. What's happening to her?

6. What are they doing here? Are they helping to make something?















7. Who are those boys? Why is their hair so short?












8. I think I have seen that man before. Is he famous? Who is he?

















9. Is that man crazy? Does he really think he can stay dry?



















10. This photo looks quite different. What is happening here?

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 08:14 PM

Winter in Minnesota (3)

Fun in the snow

It may be very cold in the Minnesota winter, but that doesn't mean people stay indoors. There is too much to do outside in the snow. Snow is for having fun.

chose was quite high and the snow was packed down from many days of sledding by the local children and adults. That means a very high-speed ride, so Kevin took his first attempt from only half way up. You can see what happened in the first video below.

Wooden sleds like mine have one big advantage. You can steer them. That is not so true of the plastic sleds that most people use nowadays. You get on them, point them in one direction and hope they go where you want them to go. That does not always happen, however. Which sled, a wooden one or a plastic one, do you think is faster and which do you think will go the furthest? The third video below will show you a direct comparison.

Kevin quickly learned that walking up a big hill in the snow is very hard work. Fortunately, he could also do his sledding in our backyard. We had enough snow this year for us to make our own hill. We also put water on it every day to give it a covering of ice. That made for some speedy rides. You will see an example in the last video below.

Kevin takes his first sled ride. The first hill we chose was quite steep, so we started only half way up. That was still high enough to make Kevin feel a little uneasy. Watch to see what happened.



Moving up the hill. The first sled ride was a success, so Kevin decided to try his luck from a higher point on the hill. Did he make it without falling off? Take a look.




Wood versus plastic. A few days later, we went to a different hill. This time my wife went along. Kevin used the wooden sled and my wife used a plastic sled that we got from my sister. Watch to see which one was faster and which one went the furthest.


Sledding in deep snow. After several snowfalls, the snow became quite deep. First we tried a hill that no one else had gone down. As you will see in the video, that made things difficult for my old wooden sled.



Plastic sledding. Next we went back to the hill where Kevin had made his first sled ride. Here the snow had been packed down somewhat by other sledders. In this video, you will see the red plastic sled shown in the phto above, plus a round "snow saucer". See which one is easier to use.





Backyard sledding. Finally watch Kevin slide down the "mountain" we had built in our backyard. The temperature that day was -15 degrees Celsius, even though the sun was shiny brightly.   

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 05:43 AM

Winter in Minnesota (2)

It's snowing!

Snow comes in many forms, depending on the temperature. When the temperature is near the freezing point 

the snow is usually quite wet and the snow flakes are quite large. This is sticky snow which is good for making snowballs or snowmen. Do you know how to make a snowman? You start with a ball of wet snow and you roll it through the snow on the ground. It quickly becomes bigger and bigger. We usually make three balls of snow for a snowman, one for the lower body, one for the upper body and one for the head. Then we put them on top of each other. There is one problem, however. The bigger the snowman, the heavier the balls become.

Sometimes, the snow is mixed with rain. We call this sleet and if it freezes it can cause big problems, especially for drivers since the roads quickly become covered with ice.




When the temperature gets colder, the snow becomes drier (above photo). You can no longer use it to make snowballs or snowmen. It is more like soft powder. Fresh dry snow is very beautiful. It makes the world outside seem fresh and white. This kind of snow is very good for skiing and sledding too. We all like this kind of snow.

Now let's look at some snow falling. First, we'll look at some wet snow. Notice how big the flakes are.






In the next video clip we'll take a closer look at the wet snow flakes.




In this clip, the weather has turned much colder and the snow is very dry and powdery. It is also windy, so the weather feels colder than it really is.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:26 AM

Winter in Minnesota

My boy Kevin is 10 years old. He was born in Thailand and until last month, he had never experienced a real winter with real snow. The same was true of my wife who was born in Khon Kaen. My experience is very different. I grew up in Northfield, Minnesota in the United States. Minnesota is in the far North and it is one of the coldest states in the country.

What is (old) snow like?

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 02:22 PM

Planning our Halloween costume

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:03 AM