South Dakota Holidays: Lights, Cold, and Mild Panic

South Dakota Holiday Survival Guide:

Welcome to the South Dakota holiday season, where the snow piles up like it’s auditioning for a role in Frozen 3, and the wind doesn’t just blow, it glares at you judgmentally. Surviving this season takes skill, stamina, and a tolerance for looking like a walking marshmallow.

Step One: Snow Management
Shoveling your driveway is basically a full-body workout disguised as a chore. Ice fishing? Perfect excuse to sit outside in subzero temps and pretend you’re a Scandinavian hero. Sledding? Sure, as long as you like the idea of launching yourself over a frozen hill and possibly into near-Earth orbit.

Step Two: Lights
South Dakotans take holiday decorating very seriously, like, “if my house doesn’t look like a spaceship landed in my yard, did I even celebrate?” Every tree, roofline, and shrub gets wrapped in enough LEDs to be seen from space. You’ll find neighbors secretly timing each other’s light displays and muttering under frostbitten breath about “who’s really winning the Christmas wars this year.” Bonus points if your display causes a minor traffic jam on a quiet street.

Step Three: Food
Food in South Dakota during the holidays is basically a survival test disguised as a feast. Pies multiply like rabbits, casseroles take over entire countertops, and cookies mysteriously disappear before anyone admits to eating them. Portion control? Never heard of it. Calories don’t exist after November 1. The secret strategy: eat quickly before the kids notice and maybe blame the dog if caught.

Step Four: Community
The best part of the holidays is that, despite frostbite-level temps, everyone comes together. The Parade of Lights on Phillips Avenue, skating on frozen ponds, and waving to neighbors bundled up like Michelin men are tradition. Bonus points if your sledding run ends in a spectacular crash that makes everyone laugh (or cringe). South Dakotans survive the cold by laughing at themselves and each other, and somehow, that makes the whole chaotic, freezing season worth it.

South Dakotans survive winter by laughing at it, dressing in layers that could double as tents, and embracing the chaos. So sip your hot cocoa, grab your mittens, and join the madness. Winter in South Dakota: it’s cold, it’s crazy, it’s ridiculous and somehow, it’s perfect.