By Scott Shephard
I stepped outside this morning at 5 am with only a towel and a swimsuit knowing that it was -17˚. But I also knew that it was windless and that I could take strange pride in knowing that a little cold weather couldn’t keep me from enjoying our hot tub. As I eased in to the deliciously warm water I was calculating the simple math of this moment: the different between the water temperature and the air temperature was 121˚. Shortly after that my glasses fogged up.
After I took my glasses off I noticed that the vapor rising out of our neighbors’ furnace chimneys was going straight up. And I knew I needed to go out to what I still refer to as “Harmony Hill” and get a photo of the biggest steam producer in our town - Glacial Lakes Energy, aka the ethanol plant. It was worth the drive and I was lucky enough to be there as the eastern sky was beginning to come to life.
I have said it before, but I’ll say it again: I don’t like winter. But there are things of true beauty in South Dakota winters, including distilleries on a grand scale such as the one you see here.
Canon R5 1/6 sec f4.0 ISO 4009