Easter Egg Hunts Turn To Snowbunny Construction: Minnesotans Roll With Holiday Storm During Pandemic

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Many would probably assume an April snow storm would be a bad thing, but for Bill Sutherland, it's therapeutic, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sutherland spent his Easter morning on a long walk around Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan

"I think it actually is the snow that brought me out here," Sutherland said. "It's almost like a meditation."

In the last month, many of us are reminded not to take good health for granted.

"Just being grateful for my health to to be able to get out here,"Sutherland said.

RELATED: Snowstorm Expected To Make Easter Seem Like Christmas

He wasn't alone on the snowy trails. Eric Voorhees was celebrating his health with a run.

"Just being out in nature, you know, just helps relax, de-stress a little bit and get some exercise," Voorhees said.

Over in Mendota Heights, 3-year-old Cal was blazing his own trails with a shovel in his front yard, alongside dad Brendan McInerney.

"He's doing a pretty good job," McInerney said. "He's making some paths there, now he's using two shovels, so pretty industrious."

McInerney thinks the snow is a good excuse to get outside of the house with the kids after spending so much of it inside lately.

"Snow on Easter is always unusual," McInerney said. "Embrace things that are a little bit not expected. It's kind of the way the world is right now. And day to day, you have to look for the novel and the interesting and try to do your best with what you got."

Easter Egg hunts don't typically involve shovels, so Todd Lintner and his family in Apple Valley changed their plans Sunday.

"Saw the forecast and decided maybe a snow fort would be better," Lintner said.

He and his sons took care of the holiday festivities before Mother Nature's inevitable winter relapse.

"We did an Easter egg hunt outside at my mom's house in Rosemount yesterday, keeping six feet away. She was wearing a mask the whole time," Lintner said.

Just a few of the changes forced by the pandemic.

"We would've had the in-laws from South Dakota over, and yeah, not in the cards in the current environment," he said.

Roads that would likely be filled with families traveling to church or a relative's house instead had plenty open pavement, only it was covered in consistent, slippery slush.

Wayne McGriff is a roadside mechanic who remained busy Sunday, despite the lack of traffic.

"A lot of spinouts, yeah, it's real icy out there," McGriff said. "It's like you get back home and stuff and then here's another call, you gotta go back out."

It's a reminder that even with snow storm and stay-at-home order, essential workers like Daniel Curtis of Eagan still have jobs to do, forcing them to break out their winter driving skills one more time.

"I'm coming home from work so, I work two jobs. I work for Bruegger's bagels, we're still open, we've been open today, we just closed at 2, and then I work for a cleaning company, so I'm just coming home from that, getting some food and drinks," Curtis said.

Even though the snowfall has stopped late Sunday night, slick spots on roads can persist into Monday morning if not treated. Temperatures will stay well below freezing, so all that melted snow could turn to ice. That means Monday morning commuters should plan to take it slow if there's a light mount of vehicle traffic.