I love this post. Wonderous thoughts of this enduring muscle have always amazed me. What ignited it? What stops it? Why can't I live forever? I have so much to do.
Typical Garrison, writing so plainly about human thinking and doing it so well. Can’t wait to share the ‘wife as bad luck story’! In my life, the acronym SSMF prevails which stands for “Somehow, Someway, whatever just happened is My Fault”. I learned this from my father who labored under this curse from my mother who was a master at assigning blame.
Irv would be proud of the tender, stubborn way you’ve chosen to wander thru Act V, marking each signpost with a little song, a little dance and a little seltzer down the pants.
Here's to your twenty one year old miracle of extended living and to the prospect of twenty one more years. Why not, with modern medicine and good living, it could happen.
We do get thankful, humble, and appreciative when we are in the midst of miracles. I am pleased that you can share these great moments. Like it or not, you are unique. Endure, friend. This moment of uncrotchyness shall fade and you will creep back into the shade and give us some butt kicking well deserved reasons to be cranked up. Bless you in this season of hope.
Dear dear GK — What a delight you and your columns ARE — (💥STILL!💥) — and they will eternally be EAGERLY anticipated with absolute, great “Oh,-gooddie-goodie-here-he-is-again…” giddyingly grinning GLEE!! ❤️💥🎂💥❤️ Pvnb in Detroit❤️🤣
"Cardiology is crucial science in Minnesota, we being German and Scandinavian, hefty consumers of animal fats who seldom turn down dessert, whereas psychiatry is looked on as a step above astrology or witchcraft — we’re puritans and feel that mental illness is caused by a moral flaw. It’s just how we are."
You should have put a period after the word dessert and called it a day. Mental illness is caused by a moral flaw? You live in NYC and surely must know we live in the 21st Century.
Wonderful commentary on the miracle of the human body and how far medicine has advanced over the past 80 years. The study of so much insight was an echocardiogram, not an electrocardiogram. It is quite hypnotic to watch your own heart beating in real time. How does it keep working? In truth, it seems our hearts, unless diseased, could outlast most of the rest of our bodies. Thanks again Garrison for sharing your skill with words.
Finding the good in our lives often comes from the trying to do good in our lives. Talking and writing about goodness and the fun and the dance and the harmonious melodies is what that heartbeat of yours is for. Keep it beating. Happy Easter, Mr. K. Stay risen as long as you can.
So my first stop this week was Cardiovascular where I lay on my left side, bare-chested, for an electrocardiogram, and I looked up and saw the silhouette of a flower fluttering on the screen and asked the technician what it was and she said, “Your mitral valve.”
TI'm sure millions of us are extremely thankful to Dr. Dan, for getting you sewn up right in the mitral valve category. He's granting us decades more of our Absolutely Favorite entertainment bar none! We also have You, Yourself, Dear Host with the Most, to thank for having the personal fortitude to lay off the bottle when you understood the consequences of the habit! It can take a certain amount of self control, which not everyone is equipped with, to just logically say to yourself "This isn't good for me. I'm going to stop." and actually do it! Perhaps you have your lifelong Brethren training to thank for that.
It seems to me that there's more to your "Feeling Good!" sensation than that, though! So many people our age, when they "retire", step out of the big world and cocoon themselves in. Many of us worked for large corporations. When The Powers That Be said "OK. We're turning you out to pasture now," some of them just "went to seed." You, our Valiant, Priceless Host, turned around and said "Here's Mud in Your Eye!" When NPR dropped the financial reins, you picked them up and discovered Substack and looked to individual financing! WAY TO GO, FEARLESS LEADER!
PS I heard you recite the 87 counties of Minnesota in alphabetical order at the Minnesota State Fair one year. AWESOME! It wasn't just the content, but the speed, the accuracy, and the rhythm that were truly impressive! We all thank you, and all your healthcare providers, for keeping you in ship shape! Now, speaking of "SHIP" shape - I'm sure there are many of us out here who are praying for the opportunity to be on board another Holland America Line cruising vessel, together with the Dear Old Prairie Home Companion gang! The Mayo Clinic keeps that mitral valve in order. Maybe you can consult with the Doctor upstairs and have Him liberate us so we can "Once Again Go Sailing!"
I love this post. Wonderous thoughts of this enduring muscle have always amazed me. What ignited it? What stops it? Why can't I live forever? I have so much to do.
Good morning, GK! Your ardent fans, followers and readers are so grateful for that heart petal of yours.
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose
Wishing you and everyone at GK & Friends a happy spring/easter/passover!
Typical Garrison, writing so plainly about human thinking and doing it so well. Can’t wait to share the ‘wife as bad luck story’! In my life, the acronym SSMF prevails which stands for “Somehow, Someway, whatever just happened is My Fault”. I learned this from my father who labored under this curse from my mother who was a master at assigning blame.
Irv would be proud of the tender, stubborn way you’ve chosen to wander thru Act V, marking each signpost with a little song, a little dance and a little seltzer down the pants.
Here's to your twenty one year old miracle of extended living and to the prospect of twenty one more years. Why not, with modern medicine and good living, it could happen.
We do get thankful, humble, and appreciative when we are in the midst of miracles. I am pleased that you can share these great moments. Like it or not, you are unique. Endure, friend. This moment of uncrotchyness shall fade and you will creep back into the shade and give us some butt kicking well deserved reasons to be cranked up. Bless you in this season of hope.
Brilliant, as always. I can’t wait to read the new novel. R. L. Stine
Dear dear GK — What a delight you and your columns ARE — (💥STILL!💥) — and they will eternally be EAGERLY anticipated with absolute, great “Oh,-gooddie-goodie-here-he-is-again…” giddyingly grinning GLEE!! ❤️💥🎂💥❤️ Pvnb in Detroit❤️🤣
Honestly,
"Cardiology is crucial science in Minnesota, we being German and Scandinavian, hefty consumers of animal fats who seldom turn down dessert, whereas psychiatry is looked on as a step above astrology or witchcraft — we’re puritans and feel that mental illness is caused by a moral flaw. It’s just how we are."
You should have put a period after the word dessert and called it a day. Mental illness is caused by a moral flaw? You live in NYC and surely must know we live in the 21st Century.
Looked at your Sonogram. Can't tell if it's going to be a boy or a girl.
Wonderful commentary on the miracle of the human body and how far medicine has advanced over the past 80 years. The study of so much insight was an echocardiogram, not an electrocardiogram. It is quite hypnotic to watch your own heart beating in real time. How does it keep working? In truth, it seems our hearts, unless diseased, could outlast most of the rest of our bodies. Thanks again Garrison for sharing your skill with words.
Michael Schwartz
Finding the good in our lives often comes from the trying to do good in our lives. Talking and writing about goodness and the fun and the dance and the harmonious melodies is what that heartbeat of yours is for. Keep it beating. Happy Easter, Mr. K. Stay risen as long as you can.
Don't understand how Mayo surgeons did heart surgery on you when you were prone.
From one U of M alum to another, you truly understand life. Thank you for your brilliance and humility.
So my first stop this week was Cardiovascular where I lay on my left side, bare-chested, for an electrocardiogram, and I looked up and saw the silhouette of a flower fluttering on the screen and asked the technician what it was and she said, “Your mitral valve.”
Perhaps this was an echocardiogram?
TI'm sure millions of us are extremely thankful to Dr. Dan, for getting you sewn up right in the mitral valve category. He's granting us decades more of our Absolutely Favorite entertainment bar none! We also have You, Yourself, Dear Host with the Most, to thank for having the personal fortitude to lay off the bottle when you understood the consequences of the habit! It can take a certain amount of self control, which not everyone is equipped with, to just logically say to yourself "This isn't good for me. I'm going to stop." and actually do it! Perhaps you have your lifelong Brethren training to thank for that.
It seems to me that there's more to your "Feeling Good!" sensation than that, though! So many people our age, when they "retire", step out of the big world and cocoon themselves in. Many of us worked for large corporations. When The Powers That Be said "OK. We're turning you out to pasture now," some of them just "went to seed." You, our Valiant, Priceless Host, turned around and said "Here's Mud in Your Eye!" When NPR dropped the financial reins, you picked them up and discovered Substack and looked to individual financing! WAY TO GO, FEARLESS LEADER!
PS I heard you recite the 87 counties of Minnesota in alphabetical order at the Minnesota State Fair one year. AWESOME! It wasn't just the content, but the speed, the accuracy, and the rhythm that were truly impressive! We all thank you, and all your healthcare providers, for keeping you in ship shape! Now, speaking of "SHIP" shape - I'm sure there are many of us out here who are praying for the opportunity to be on board another Holland America Line cruising vessel, together with the Dear Old Prairie Home Companion gang! The Mayo Clinic keeps that mitral valve in order. Maybe you can consult with the Doctor upstairs and have Him liberate us so we can "Once Again Go Sailing!"