Your words were so lovely as I lie in bed at 6 AM. I’m 70 and feel the same way as you do. The world can pass me by and that’s okay. Thank you for making me smile at the beginning of a new day.
Garrison, Thanks for the many good thoughts in today's article.
There are a several "puzzles" about life. The more electronic gadgets and labor saving devices we have, the less free time we have. When I was young I worked forty hours a week at a job and still had enough time to keep the yard, go to church, listen to PHC, and do many other things. Now I don't have a job but still can't keep the yard or do much other than read things on the internet and walk the dog. We don't go anywhere because of covid. I am not sure what I do everyday but I don't accomplish much and it takes all day to do it. The less I do; the faster time goes by.
"The road to contentment" On the internet someone attributes this quote to Buddha: "Health is the greatest gift, Contentment the greatest Wealth, Faithfulness the best relationship."
Some of my Christian friends roll their eyes and become outraged and angry when I start quoting Buddha but Buddha had a good way of looking at life. And Buddha did not claim to be a god; in fact I believe that he said that he was not a god.
But Buddha also said that the source of unhappiness is wanting things. Happiness is not something one looks for; it is something that one is. Don't look for contentment; just be content. What we look for is often what we find.
We should all be grateful and thankful for our lives and that we were born in the United States in the twentieth century. Luck, along with industry and work, has a lot to do with how we come out in life. We could have been born in the middle of the dark ages or born in terrible conditions or could have had terrible parents. When I see pictures of the homeless and unemployed on television, I often think "there but for the grace of God. . . "
Thanks, Garrison. I take that for a real compliment. However, after I posted my comments it did occur to me that I might have just summarized and repeated what you just said. But at any rate I have always thought of myself as a poor writer and so I need practice writing. A good place to practice is your column and the NYT editorial/opinion section (assuming that the topic at hand is of interest). In both places I read something and then fairly quickly write a comment upon what I just read. I don't want to repeat what was just said but to offer comments or thoughts which relate to what was said. It helps that you and I have the same basic outlook on life which is one reason (the other was the music) that I listened to PHC years ago. I don't think that I could write a limerick.
...and modern dentistry. We are not thankful enough for modern dentistry, which has created a generation (or two) to be entirely ignorant of Polident. Be nice to your dentist, and get your checkup twice a year.
I wish liberals were only vampires. Luckily vampires don’t exist. Unluckily, poor decision makers exist in abundance. We just got to see a bit of that in a far away place. If the Evil Orange Man were in charge of that mess, something tells me your topic may have been a little less dreamy.
As usual, this is a wonderful column! When I read the line about thinking that you had been somewhere before, it brought me back to my Gypsy days when I lived in the L.A. Basin. If I headed East on Route 66, I'd detour on the old road to get to Seligman, Arizona. There was a café there that was a "Must Stop!" By that time, it's true, I was hungry. But it wasn't the food that attracted me, it was the waitress! She always recognized me, and greeted me warmly. There were a couple of other spots too, but Seligman was my most compelling "ritual stop!"
I wonder, when you went on tour, if there were stops that you looked forward to? For me, it's as if there are these warm places along the way, shelters from the unknown, havens of calm that dot my mental map. There in Connecticut, I wouldn't be surprised if you folks have some "We've got to stop there!" places too!
What a great column today! I was on Youtube last week, too, listening to the Everly Brothers. They always have had a special place in my heart because the 45 rpm of All I have to do is Dream the is first record I asked my parents to buy for me. I was captivated, even as a little kid, by their…well…dreamy harmonies. They may have fallen out and in as brothers, but as artists, they never lost their music.
Reading these posts of yours is a happy part of my day, and I’m grateful for this new phase of your career. I do miss the live, Saturday night Prairie Home Companion. But thanks to being in 2021, when it’s Saturday at 6 p.m., I can still pop up an old show and be charmed by the witty, intelligent material (Last week, I listened to your version of Hush, Little Baby, and grinned out loud) and that huge range of beautiful music. It’s all timeless. We have the PHC archive, your books, The Writer’s Almanac, and now, this channel and a growing number of live performances to keep your work flowing. So keep the work flowing, please. I, for one, am sticking with you to the end, and I hope that doesn’t come soon. For either one of us.
I’ve been so entertained by your limericks. I’m no poet, limerick writer, or artist of any kind, but the word “dichotomy” stuck in my head. Instead of throwing it away, I tackled a limerick inspired by you. Sending this is a little like inviting Julia Child for dinner. Yikes.
In my family I’m such a dichotomy.
My sisters all think quite a lot of me.
But all of my brothers
First one, then the others
Opined I should get a lobotomy.
This is my first and only limerick. Is it harder to write to shorter words or multisyllabic words?
"...and when the usher comes by with the collection plate, putting in a twenty and asking for a whiskey sour..." brought a smile as I remember our daughter aged 5 or 6 then spoke loud and clear when she couldn't receive communion "hey, how come I don't get a snack when I paid for it?" (she had put in a dollar in the collection basket). Thank you!
I am not quite your age, but looking forward to arriving there in good time. I'll stay with you to the end, but would prefer that not be any time soon. Please make a note.
I welcome your friendship. I used to be a Very Important Pencil and now I am a contented nobody and grateful for it. I got a lot of angry mail about this column from people who expected me to be outraged about whatever outrages them and I believe there's enough cheap outrage in America without me adding my cent's worth. There is only so much to be done and we should do that much and pray for rain. Maybe not rain today, but eventually.
Out of touch is not a bad thing. My mama taught me to be careful what you touch, so the "out of" works for me. Being old is not a bad thing, either. It's a milestone some don't make. And I'm with you on the Whiskey Sour...at church or any place else!
I hope "the nearby cafe overlooking Long Island Sound" was in Guilford and you will come back soon and often!
Your words were so lovely as I lie in bed at 6 AM. I’m 70 and feel the same way as you do. The world can pass me by and that’s okay. Thank you for making me smile at the beginning of a new day.
Garrison, Thanks for the many good thoughts in today's article.
There are a several "puzzles" about life. The more electronic gadgets and labor saving devices we have, the less free time we have. When I was young I worked forty hours a week at a job and still had enough time to keep the yard, go to church, listen to PHC, and do many other things. Now I don't have a job but still can't keep the yard or do much other than read things on the internet and walk the dog. We don't go anywhere because of covid. I am not sure what I do everyday but I don't accomplish much and it takes all day to do it. The less I do; the faster time goes by.
"The road to contentment" On the internet someone attributes this quote to Buddha: "Health is the greatest gift, Contentment the greatest Wealth, Faithfulness the best relationship."
Some of my Christian friends roll their eyes and become outraged and angry when I start quoting Buddha but Buddha had a good way of looking at life. And Buddha did not claim to be a god; in fact I believe that he said that he was not a god.
But Buddha also said that the source of unhappiness is wanting things. Happiness is not something one looks for; it is something that one is. Don't look for contentment; just be content. What we look for is often what we find.
We should all be grateful and thankful for our lives and that we were born in the United States in the twentieth century. Luck, along with industry and work, has a lot to do with how we come out in life. We could have been born in the middle of the dark ages or born in terrible conditions or could have had terrible parents. When I see pictures of the homeless and unemployed on television, I often think "there but for the grace of God. . . "
Best wishes to one and all.
You summarize very well. I'd have spent hours trying to say what you say much better and now I'm going to use that time to write a limerick.
Thanks, Garrison. I take that for a real compliment. However, after I posted my comments it did occur to me that I might have just summarized and repeated what you just said. But at any rate I have always thought of myself as a poor writer and so I need practice writing. A good place to practice is your column and the NYT editorial/opinion section (assuming that the topic at hand is of interest). In both places I read something and then fairly quickly write a comment upon what I just read. I don't want to repeat what was just said but to offer comments or thoughts which relate to what was said. It helps that you and I have the same basic outlook on life which is one reason (the other was the music) that I listened to PHC years ago. I don't think that I could write a limerick.
It really is remarkable how well your words capture my feelings at this stage of my life.
...and modern dentistry. We are not thankful enough for modern dentistry, which has created a generation (or two) to be entirely ignorant of Polident. Be nice to your dentist, and get your checkup twice a year.
thanks for the reminder.
I wish liberals were only vampires. Luckily vampires don’t exist. Unluckily, poor decision makers exist in abundance. We just got to see a bit of that in a far away place. If the Evil Orange Man were in charge of that mess, something tells me your topic may have been a little less dreamy.
Your persistence is remarkable. Do you not live with someone you can irritate?
Thank you. Every Yin needs a Yang. I like your writing (I really do). 1000 pardons but your gratuitous pokes at conservatives set me off at times.
You personify gratuitousness. I find your obsession tiresome.
Definitely not one of the sycophants, and if that is all you want I suppose that is understandable.
I'm not a sycophant either and I see nothing conservative about you, you're just a practicing jerk.
Really mature response… 😎
Beautifully said..and just the advice I needed to hear TODAY
Your column today was the perfect antidote to the anxiety I felt this morning as I skimmed the news. Thanks, GK!
As usual, this is a wonderful column! When I read the line about thinking that you had been somewhere before, it brought me back to my Gypsy days when I lived in the L.A. Basin. If I headed East on Route 66, I'd detour on the old road to get to Seligman, Arizona. There was a café there that was a "Must Stop!" By that time, it's true, I was hungry. But it wasn't the food that attracted me, it was the waitress! She always recognized me, and greeted me warmly. There were a couple of other spots too, but Seligman was my most compelling "ritual stop!"
I wonder, when you went on tour, if there were stops that you looked forward to? For me, it's as if there are these warm places along the way, shelters from the unknown, havens of calm that dot my mental map. There in Connecticut, I wouldn't be surprised if you folks have some "We've got to stop there!" places too!
Touring with PHC was all business. I was only a passenger on the bus, and these days I am a passenger too and glad for it.
and thank you for being with us/me to the end, you keep me going and true to my MN roots
What a great column today! I was on Youtube last week, too, listening to the Everly Brothers. They always have had a special place in my heart because the 45 rpm of All I have to do is Dream the is first record I asked my parents to buy for me. I was captivated, even as a little kid, by their…well…dreamy harmonies. They may have fallen out and in as brothers, but as artists, they never lost their music.
Reading these posts of yours is a happy part of my day, and I’m grateful for this new phase of your career. I do miss the live, Saturday night Prairie Home Companion. But thanks to being in 2021, when it’s Saturday at 6 p.m., I can still pop up an old show and be charmed by the witty, intelligent material (Last week, I listened to your version of Hush, Little Baby, and grinned out loud) and that huge range of beautiful music. It’s all timeless. We have the PHC archive, your books, The Writer’s Almanac, and now, this channel and a growing number of live performances to keep your work flowing. So keep the work flowing, please. I, for one, am sticking with you to the end, and I hope that doesn’t come soon. For either one of us.
I’ve been so entertained by your limericks. I’m no poet, limerick writer, or artist of any kind, but the word “dichotomy” stuck in my head. Instead of throwing it away, I tackled a limerick inspired by you. Sending this is a little like inviting Julia Child for dinner. Yikes.
In my family I’m such a dichotomy.
My sisters all think quite a lot of me.
But all of my brothers
First one, then the others
Opined I should get a lobotomy.
This is my first and only limerick. Is it harder to write to shorter words or multisyllabic words?
Many thanks!
JA
This is a terrific limerick. Thanks. I've felt like a lonely limericist and now I feel I have company.
Thank you! I'm going to stop while I'm at my peak and hand the keyboard back to you.
A limerick novice, Jeannine
Wrote one that was good although clean
And then closed up shop
Before she could top
It with one that is gross and obscene.
I am curtsying to you, sir. Thank you for the terrific limerick and the laugh to go with it.
Mr. Keillor is a limerick master;
Can anyone write a good one faster?
He barely has time to sit
Before out pours his quick wit
WIth less than one in ten a disaster.
You should definitely write more - "Opined I should get a lobotomy" is a great line! 😂
It's always nice to meet a fellow Jeannine, by the way. :)
Thank you, Jeannine! And it's so nice to meet you, too. There are very few of us.
"...and when the usher comes by with the collection plate, putting in a twenty and asking for a whiskey sour..." brought a smile as I remember our daughter aged 5 or 6 then spoke loud and clear when she couldn't receive communion "hey, how come I don't get a snack when I paid for it?" (she had put in a dollar in the collection basket). Thank you!
What to you is the BEST invention of our time?
I am addicted to Google and to YouTube.
I am not quite your age, but looking forward to arriving there in good time. I'll stay with you to the end, but would prefer that not be any time soon. Please make a note.
I welcome your friendship. I used to be a Very Important Pencil and now I am a contented nobody and grateful for it. I got a lot of angry mail about this column from people who expected me to be outraged about whatever outrages them and I believe there's enough cheap outrage in America without me adding my cent's worth. There is only so much to be done and we should do that much and pray for rain. Maybe not rain today, but eventually.
Out of touch is not a bad thing. My mama taught me to be careful what you touch, so the "out of" works for me. Being old is not a bad thing, either. It's a milestone some don't make. And I'm with you on the Whiskey Sour...at church or any place else!