A: Because it never stops raining.
From the time I crossed Iowa's northern border around 5:00 pm Friday until my return on Sunday afternoon, there may have been half an hour without precipitation. My friend, Katie, and I spent the weekend with friends at the College of St. Benedict & St. John's University in St. Joseph. To reach our destination, we drove through rain, mist and fog- then we sat through two hours of Minneapolis traffic as cats and dogs came down around us.
Six hours and one missed exit later, we arrived at the college. We liberated ourselves from the confines of Katie's car, agreeing ice cream and coffee were necessary antidotes to our exhaustive travels. As we wobbled around, trying to regain our land legs, we noticed we were facing one more form of precipitation we hadn't yet encountered: snow.
It wasn't everywhere, but coupled with the slick ice patches, the snow was slightly defeating. I cautiously maneuvered my way through the rest of the night and went to bed in hopes that Saturday would bear more inviting weather and temperatures that weren't akin to sub-arctic permafrost.
When I awoke, the gray skies were nothing to be excited about, but as the day progressed the heavens cleared, letting enough sun peek through to capture some scenic photos. We trekked down to the frozen lake, watching as more adventurous people slipped across the surface, then we walked up to the crest of a giant hill and watched the now-clear sky radiate fiery reds and brilliant purples as the sun set.
The sunset was enough of a reward that I didn't even mind the ominous clouds of doom that bade us farewell the next morning when we made the long drive back to Iowa. Instead, my mind wandered between counting the raindrops on the windshield and the infinite numbers of lakes, ponds, streams, pools and puddles that separated me from golden cornfields and sunshine.
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