If people stopped to watch the snowfall this weekend, they did not stop for long.

Despite wind, snow and slippery sidewalks Sunday morning, patrons lined up for pancakes and eggs at Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown, church-goers headed out for morning services, and students bundled up before leaving for the library.

For those who have lived in the Midwest, snow is a natural part of life. But for one University student, the experience was anything but ordinary.

Sweet home Alabama

Liz Horn, a first-year student from Huntsville, Ala., said she was not prepared for the cold.

“I’ve had to go shopping for warm clothes,” she said.

Horn said friends and family warned her about the cold before she came north.

“I was pretty much told I wasn’t going to survive, that it’s ridiculously cold here,” she said.

Despite the cold, she was excited about the snow.

“I’m the only one that seems happy about it,” Horn said.

To everyone in her residence – most are from Minnesota and Wisconsin – snow is just a regular occurrence.

Horn’s parents said it was 70 degrees in Huntsville on Sunday.

Horn is looking forward to her first snowy holiday season.

“It’s hard to feel Christmasy when it’s only 40 or 50 (degrees) and just kind of dreary,” Horn said.

Clearing the way

The sign of snow Sunday morning did not stop many people from attending University Baptist Church, church members said.

It did, however, mean church member Thor Kommendahl and caretaker James Burkvold had to shovel snow.

“I had to get up early and start shoveling, but I like it,” Burkvold said.

Estelle Batal, who regularly attends church, said the snow would not change her plans for the day. But she wasn’t sure about her long-term plans.

“I like the snow – it’s always fun, the first one. By the 10th one, it’s when you start thinking about going to Arizona,” she said.

Feeding the calves

On the St. Paul campus, animal science junior Nathan Mueller prepared to feed the calves.

At the barn, about 20 calves huddled inside their individual pens, trying to stay warm and out of the snow while waiting for their twice-daily feeding.

Inside the dairy barn, Mueller finished mixing the calf starter for the calves. Despite the weather, Mueller’s job simply goes on.

“I was out there earlier and it wasn’t too bad. I had to throw a little bedding down, but that was about it,” Mueller said. He said he gets used to the cold and just bears it.

“You can’t say you want to go out there and freeze,” Mueller said.

Mueller has to feed the two youngest calves, only a day or two old, by bottle.

Clothed in winter apparel, he climbed into the calves’ pens to feed them. Then, Mueller carried a calf that was having trouble walking out to his milk bucket. After it was done eating, he carried it back into the shed.

Mueller jokingly said he had not seen any of the calves’ tongues stick to the metal fence surrounding each of their pens.