Joel's Test

City of Lakes Loppet • For one weekend a year, it’s easier to find someone in Uptown Minneapolis wearing skis than shoes during this celebration of cross-country skiing and frozen lakes lit with candles—as much a tribute to the area’s aggressive embrace of winter as its Scandinavian heritage. • 2/4–2/5, cityoflakesloppet.com

Joel Hoekstra writes frequently about design and architecture for Midwest Home and has contributed to a wide range of publications, including This Old House, Metropolis, ASID Icon and Architecture Minnesota. He lives in Minneapolis in a 1906 Dutch Colonial that is overdue for a full remodel—or at least a coat of fresh paint.