“What do you think of this anti-winter?” I asked Natalie. We met on the Gunflint Trail a decade ago and have spent every winter together up here since.

“It’s been kind of nice, actually,” she said. “I think we all needed this break. Ever since COVID, town has just been crazy. And with no snow, it has been quiet in town again. It’s been nice seeing people relaxed again, being nice to each other.”

It was the end of March and I had only run the snowblower twice. I had been selfishly thinking about snow removal. In all of my winters it had certainly been the easiest winter for that.

But she meant it was nice not having the tourists around. Without the snow, fewer people were visiting the Boundary Waters region.