How lovely to invite comments from your devoted fans, GK. I have familiarity with Rochester, MInn and the marvelous Mayo Clinic with a very storied history of its own. When I married the second time, it was a May -Dec thing, in that he was 23 years older than me in my mid-thirties. With two young children, I refused his proposals several times, thinking he should go off on his boat and have some fun while wrapping up a very successful insurance career, he didn't really need to raise another family. But the tug of love was too strong and I married my soul mate. We never knew exactly how or why it worked, but it did. Before our marriage he had the first or second four bypass heart surgery at Mayo's. Every year we went for annual checkups at Mayo's and had lovely Greek dinners at Michael's on Main and he allowed me to select a piece of beautiful Lalique crystal at a local collector's shop to take home as a souvenir of his great checkups with Dr. Olney, cardiologist, for many years. When he turned 75, Dr. Olney said I think I can get you another five years possibly if you want to try...."Sign me up!" Rob replied. So he became a member of the 'Double Zipper Club", telling me the night before that he had a wonder life and no regrets and not to worry....Ha! But it paid off with three more bypasses and a pig valve, and sure enough, he was just a few months short of eighty, five years later....and the Sunday after it happened, I sat down on his side of the bed and turned on the radio to listen to the replay of PHC from the night before. It happened to be your performance from Purdue University in Lafayette, IN...Rob's beloved alma mater. I cried as I remembered how proud he always was of Purdue and that he was the first soloist with the Glee Club, on his accordion, which he always mentioned as he passed out his business card for insurance! You would never know it , but you delivered an important message to me that day...from him. Letting me know he was all right. I went to his funeral the next day and said good by to the love of my life, reassured. Thank you for all your marvelous writing and storytelling and I wanted to let you know how special the Purdue performance was to me. XOXORo Pettiner, Carmel, IN P.S. We are not by the sea...we are by the cornfields, what's left of them, but still the number one place to live in the US...look it up! And carry on!
I am so happy that you are okay! Your large DQ Butterfinger Blizzard must be getting to you, you mentioned it twice. :)
I love Ellen Dibble's writing, especially this beautiful sentence: " If I become fully functional, like a teenager, what then? I will have a demitasse of Chilean wine and watch time pour through my fingers like sand. " I also loved, "We carve out spaces of competence, if we’re lucky..." We should all be so lucky.
By the way, prune juice does a great job at moving along the fecal glaciers . Ducosate is a pretty gentle, but effective, stool softener as well. I would suggest you try those before trying any extreme measures.
Have you heard Thich Nhat Hanh's "Teachings on Love," and the story about David/Dugan? Very funny, but starts out seriously: "To love means to listen. There is a voice that is calling you that wants you to listen. Listening is a very important practice. The ability to listen to others is based upon the ability to listen to yourself. The ability to love others is dependent on loving yourself first."
INR stands for International Normalized Ratio, just FYI (RN here). ;) So very, very glad you made it through, Mr. Keillor! How I would’ve loved to be one of your nurses! (Alas, I work far south of MN, where it will quite surely never snow….)
I heard a story about the DQ Blizzard, maybe true, maybe apocryphal (see how I slipped in that Biblical reference?) A DQ franchisee developed the Blizzard recipe, sold it in the local shop and was overwhelmed by demand. The main office noticed and complained about brand name infringement, and offered to buy the recipe. The franchisee declined and made a bet on the future; a royalty agreement followed. Now the franchisee is living on Easy Street with monthly royalties rolling in. Is this a business school case?
"As for making comical remarks about UUs, I did it in a show in Nashville and a UU complained that it made him feel demeaned and marginalized and so I’m not going to do it anymore."
That might have been me, even though I'm not a UU but just a Humanist and Pragmatist trying not to be too much like a cobra. But I did once express some sympathy for the UUs on a job application at Belmont University, whose then-provost promptly un-hired me. That was demeaning (but fortunate as it turns out, opening the door for me to another fine institution of higher learning and greater tolerance). So, thank you for your raised consciousness.
I never have been a fan of Dairy Queen since I do not care for soft-serve "ice cream" - which of course, Dairy Queen's product is not. Being therefore unfamiliar with the DQ Blizzard that was referenced several times in today's Post, I looked it up online and learned a bit of history. My teeth ached just reading this excerpt, particularly the part about the amount of sugar in a single serving: "Most Dairy Queen Blizzard-lovers probably don't even realize how close they came to losing their favorite Blizzard forever. Imagine a Dairy Queen where M&Ms weren't an option. The horror!
"You see, all those great mix-ins like M&Ms, Snickers, and Heath Bar belong to the Mars candy company and in 2016 somebody with way too much power decided it wasn't a good idea to partner with Dairy Queen. Mars suddenly grew a conscience and felt that items like the Blizzard and McDonald's McFlurry 'exceed in a single serving the amount of sugar the U.S. government recommends anyone eat in a day.' We're not going to argue that an M&M Blizzard isn't loaded with sugar, but people generally know what they're getting into when they order ice cream mixed with a candy bar. " Read More: https://www.mashed.com/144363/the-untold-truth-of-dairy-queens-famous-blizzard/?utm_campaign=clip
Funny -- those comical UU remarks in Nashville 'made me feel' recognized and appreciated. Also, don't concern yourself, your colon will come back to life, just give it a couple more days. Thank you!
I had my first Blizzard about 5 years ago at the urging of my best friend. I always get the mini in order to cut back on my Lutheran guilt and that size is just enough for me. My fave used to be pumpkin pie but my grandson just introduced me to a chocolate Blizzard with crushed Oreos. Oh, my! It is delicious! And it seems to make living in Texas a little easier to tolerate.
Enjoy in good health, Garrison. I’m so glad your surgery went well.
Dear Mr. Keillor, so pleased to hear your running the halls! You wrote about the
Blizzard. I thought about my hospital cravings. Mine was always when I finally left, I used to ask my husband at that time to please stop at MacDonald's. I had to have a Vanilla Milk Shake! Before we got home I had usually finished mine - sheer heaven through a straw!
As for the lower body problem, (she says with a smile) - that too will pass. Its hard sometimes, but this is really when we learn to take everything one day at a time... BUT, if you find your hands are suddenly holding a pen that only writes in Brown, push that nurse button and get something to make you go.
You write of surgery and a big blizzard. You are alive! Enjoy the scar and bloat.
Glad you are better!
How lovely to invite comments from your devoted fans, GK. I have familiarity with Rochester, MInn and the marvelous Mayo Clinic with a very storied history of its own. When I married the second time, it was a May -Dec thing, in that he was 23 years older than me in my mid-thirties. With two young children, I refused his proposals several times, thinking he should go off on his boat and have some fun while wrapping up a very successful insurance career, he didn't really need to raise another family. But the tug of love was too strong and I married my soul mate. We never knew exactly how or why it worked, but it did. Before our marriage he had the first or second four bypass heart surgery at Mayo's. Every year we went for annual checkups at Mayo's and had lovely Greek dinners at Michael's on Main and he allowed me to select a piece of beautiful Lalique crystal at a local collector's shop to take home as a souvenir of his great checkups with Dr. Olney, cardiologist, for many years. When he turned 75, Dr. Olney said I think I can get you another five years possibly if you want to try...."Sign me up!" Rob replied. So he became a member of the 'Double Zipper Club", telling me the night before that he had a wonder life and no regrets and not to worry....Ha! But it paid off with three more bypasses and a pig valve, and sure enough, he was just a few months short of eighty, five years later....and the Sunday after it happened, I sat down on his side of the bed and turned on the radio to listen to the replay of PHC from the night before. It happened to be your performance from Purdue University in Lafayette, IN...Rob's beloved alma mater. I cried as I remembered how proud he always was of Purdue and that he was the first soloist with the Glee Club, on his accordion, which he always mentioned as he passed out his business card for insurance! You would never know it , but you delivered an important message to me that day...from him. Letting me know he was all right. I went to his funeral the next day and said good by to the love of my life, reassured. Thank you for all your marvelous writing and storytelling and I wanted to let you know how special the Purdue performance was to me. XOXORo Pettiner, Carmel, IN P.S. We are not by the sea...we are by the cornfields, what's left of them, but still the number one place to live in the US...look it up! And carry on!
Heal quickly!
Said the witch as she waved her glimmer sticks
I'll conjure a rhyme for limericks
To calm the poor Garrison
For whom this comparison
Must seem like one of my dimmer tricks
I am so happy that you are okay! Your large DQ Butterfinger Blizzard must be getting to you, you mentioned it twice. :)
I love Ellen Dibble's writing, especially this beautiful sentence: " If I become fully functional, like a teenager, what then? I will have a demitasse of Chilean wine and watch time pour through my fingers like sand. " I also loved, "We carve out spaces of competence, if we’re lucky..." We should all be so lucky.
By the way, prune juice does a great job at moving along the fecal glaciers . Ducosate is a pretty gentle, but effective, stool softener as well. I would suggest you try those before trying any extreme measures.
Dear G.,
Have you heard Thich Nhat Hanh's "Teachings on Love," and the story about David/Dugan? Very funny, but starts out seriously: "To love means to listen. There is a voice that is calling you that wants you to listen. Listening is a very important practice. The ability to listen to others is based upon the ability to listen to yourself. The ability to love others is dependent on loving yourself first."
I may not love myself, but I love you, man.
INR stands for International Normalized Ratio, just FYI (RN here). ;) So very, very glad you made it through, Mr. Keillor! How I would’ve loved to be one of your nurses! (Alas, I work far south of MN, where it will quite surely never snow….)
I heard a story about the DQ Blizzard, maybe true, maybe apocryphal (see how I slipped in that Biblical reference?) A DQ franchisee developed the Blizzard recipe, sold it in the local shop and was overwhelmed by demand. The main office noticed and complained about brand name infringement, and offered to buy the recipe. The franchisee declined and made a bet on the future; a royalty agreement followed. Now the franchisee is living on Easy Street with monthly royalties rolling in. Is this a business school case?
Where do we ordinary people find Easy Street?
"As for making comical remarks about UUs, I did it in a show in Nashville and a UU complained that it made him feel demeaned and marginalized and so I’m not going to do it anymore."
That might have been me, even though I'm not a UU but just a Humanist and Pragmatist trying not to be too much like a cobra. But I did once express some sympathy for the UUs on a job application at Belmont University, whose then-provost promptly un-hired me. That was demeaning (but fortunate as it turns out, opening the door for me to another fine institution of higher learning and greater tolerance). So, thank you for your raised consciousness.
I never have been a fan of Dairy Queen since I do not care for soft-serve "ice cream" - which of course, Dairy Queen's product is not. Being therefore unfamiliar with the DQ Blizzard that was referenced several times in today's Post, I looked it up online and learned a bit of history. My teeth ached just reading this excerpt, particularly the part about the amount of sugar in a single serving: "Most Dairy Queen Blizzard-lovers probably don't even realize how close they came to losing their favorite Blizzard forever. Imagine a Dairy Queen where M&Ms weren't an option. The horror!
"You see, all those great mix-ins like M&Ms, Snickers, and Heath Bar belong to the Mars candy company and in 2016 somebody with way too much power decided it wasn't a good idea to partner with Dairy Queen. Mars suddenly grew a conscience and felt that items like the Blizzard and McDonald's McFlurry 'exceed in a single serving the amount of sugar the U.S. government recommends anyone eat in a day.' We're not going to argue that an M&M Blizzard isn't loaded with sugar, but people generally know what they're getting into when they order ice cream mixed with a candy bar. " Read More: https://www.mashed.com/144363/the-untold-truth-of-dairy-queens-famous-blizzard/?utm_campaign=clip
Funny -- those comical UU remarks in Nashville 'made me feel' recognized and appreciated. Also, don't concern yourself, your colon will come back to life, just give it a couple more days. Thank you!
Up late rhyming words in a limerick
I’m burning both ends of my candlestick
It’s late in the nigh
The bar is too high
Here’s a few, now can you just take your pick?
A very strange verse is a limerick.
It rhymes in the form of a strict triptych.
Lines one, two and five
Must keep rhyme alive
Lines three and four pair to make five quite slick.
Now Garrison’s take on a limerick
Might lean toward a just kind of politic
While passions may burn
What good people learn:
Gratitude makes living most epic.
I’m sitting here writing a limerick
With a ballpoint pen that was made by Bic.
My right hand is twitching
to an iPad I’m switching
That way I can just point and click.
I’m approaching the end of this limerick.
The exercise has been quite a kick.
If I go on and on
My friend Garrison
Might think I’m some sort of lunatic.
Thanks for the limerick challenge, Mr. Keillor.
Love you and your good work.
Josephine Hensley
— a Heartlander in Boston
Love blizzards, the mini ones. Just enough
I had my first Blizzard about 5 years ago at the urging of my best friend. I always get the mini in order to cut back on my Lutheran guilt and that size is just enough for me. My fave used to be pumpkin pie but my grandson just introduced me to a chocolate Blizzard with crushed Oreos. Oh, my! It is delicious! And it seems to make living in Texas a little easier to tolerate.
Enjoy in good health, Garrison. I’m so glad your surgery went well.
BD, MD
Dear Mr. Keillor, so pleased to hear your running the halls! You wrote about the
Blizzard. I thought about my hospital cravings. Mine was always when I finally left, I used to ask my husband at that time to please stop at MacDonald's. I had to have a Vanilla Milk Shake! Before we got home I had usually finished mine - sheer heaven through a straw!
As for the lower body problem, (she says with a smile) - that too will pass. Its hard sometimes, but this is really when we learn to take everything one day at a time... BUT, if you find your hands are suddenly holding a pen that only writes in Brown, push that nurse button and get something to make you go.