So good to hear your inner burblings Mr Keillor. Like many, I have enjoyed your writing for many years, and it’s great to discover you here on the latest piece of space age technology. It’s a delight to read something that is not fearsomely politically correct for a change - in fact, I’d say it was refreshing to read something normal, if I weren’t so afraid of how terribly, uh, normative the word ‘normal’ has come to be. And I’d like to add that I particularly enjoyed the anecdote about dog turds.
Sir, you live on the Upper West Side. Quite sometime ago you erroneusly stated that Lincoln Center was built on the site of Hell's Kitchen. How could you make such an erggeious mistake about our get city? It was built on San Juan Hill: The Upper West Side’s Lost Neighborhood! San Juan Hill dance halls and jazz clubs of San Juan Hill. A hotbed of African-American culture, San Juan Hill gave birth to music and trends that quickly spread across the country. Thelonious Monk jazz pianist, moved to the Phipps Houses of San Juan Hill at a young age. There, he grew up alongside James P. Johnson pianist and creator of the Charleston Craze that swept the country in the 1920s.
Please correct this disservice to the African-American culture and our city. Post-Haste.
I enjoyed your observations of a simple evening gathering. The flow of seemingly uneventful matters are like a river illuminating the magic and grace of daily life.
In the movie "Cabaret," Sally Bowles smiles broadly in the midst of her salacious greeting with "Divine decadence!" You may not have expressed decadence with those back-rubs of of your dear spouse, but the "Ah's" we hear do come close, as we find that special conjunction and all itches disappear. Not much is asked of us, but this act is a holy gift to one we love and a small price to pay for mutual happiness. There's an old saying about the bennies of mutual scratching. These exchanges will likely take us nowhere but Dante's lower realms. Who wants that? Satan himself. Stick to the front porch and sit together on the swing with your loved one. Ah, the rhythm of the swing and the perfectly rendered scratch...moments of perpetual joy....and her "Ah!" and your gift of a "Divine Cadence."
The planet is doing its best to accommodate us all but maybe we're too many and those of us who've exceeded life expectancy are at fault so it behooves us to try to be useful.
D: Requirements for comments? This could be seen as setting “healthy boundaries,” I suppose, but I can’t imagine you using that term. No, I’m afraid this is a futile attempt at control. Will you censure comments that don’t comply? This just seems like a bad idea. For what it’s worth, I didn’t much enjoy writing this comment.
Thanks for disagreeing. The suggestions were meant to encourage the shy to disagree, question, and point out new directions. No attempt to control at all.
I always like your posts that remind me of Kurt Vonnegut. Todays really rang a bell for "If This Isn't Nice, What Is?" Thank you for all the years of good stories!
I'll offer neither a "D", "Q" or "S"... My comment here falls into the "none of the above" category.
Mr. K.
It's the simple things in life that make us realize things aren't really all that bad. You have it good. Now go have a Blizzard, which, by the way, I favor the Reese's or the Oreo version. My bride favors the Heath Bar blizzard. Word to the wise, never get the large and don't put it in the freezer if you can't finish it, it ruins the taste. Get the medium and eat it slowly, savor the taste. Go back in two days for another, every day would cause one to be labeled addicted.
Melted ice cream and concoctions containing it can be rejuvenated in an ice cream maker. I accidentally melted a pint of Ben and Jerry's vanilla last week and it came out great after having been chilled well and then churned for about 50 minutes.
Thank you so much for these comments. They really make my day and make me happy. Since I’m 82 to and have Covid, That’s quite a feat. Keep on keeping on
That's the COVID speaking! Once we're able to get the Gang together again, go floating away with Holland America, and be together, you and all your Prairie Home COMPANIONS, I'm sure that sense of "Insignificance" will disappear! For one thing, you are truly, sincerely, a Marvelous Host! I just think about being in the dining room at one of our suppers, with you wandering the aisles from table to table, putting your hand on the backs of our chairs, and talking with us, one by one, face to face! I remember when I asked you about the time you had left your brief case, with all your recent writing in it, in the AMTRAK terminal in Portland, Oregon! It's little details that come out. I had been stuck in the Portland AMTRAK terminal because of a snow storm - so I could envision the "setting" for your frantic loss very well!
You may meet hundreds of people, even in the course of a week - especially when you're with your Public! This probably seems "normal" to you. But for us, those "incidental meetings" may end up as treasured memories for decades to come! Someone who seems to be "A Star", off on another planet, may also be someone we've spoken with personally - someone who also has memories about the Portland AMTRAK station!
Like the Earth, or a Star, you've got a magnet at your core! "The Church of the Prairie Home" - as some woman in a presentation at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC described your "Planet." We love you, as we love our parents or memorable teachers, as a fixed point in our human universe - a Guiding Light! I'm glad you're reaching out with this GK and Friends Substack page, to keep in contact with many of us who hold the memories of your friendship with us so dearly! Just because we're not there in your mirror to remind you of our presence, doesn't mean you're "insignificant" in any way at all!
Wonderful column, per usual. I can practically taste the burgers and corn, and love the tranquility. Thanks for all of your contributions over many years!
We just had our first fresh corn on the cob last week, with plenty of butter and salt. - a bit of heaven on earth! This batch came from a local farmer, as will the next few, but if we're lucky we'll have our very own corn ready in a month or so, if we can beat the varmints to it. There's nothing to compare with freshly picked and cooked corn on the cob (except maybe for freshly picked and cooked asparagus).
Question: How strictly will you be enforcing the new rules? Are we allowed to send you "N" ("None of the above") Posts to the Host (e.g., "Good luck with your upcoming procedure," or completely off-topic topics)?
So good to hear your inner burblings Mr Keillor. Like many, I have enjoyed your writing for many years, and it’s great to discover you here on the latest piece of space age technology. It’s a delight to read something that is not fearsomely politically correct for a change - in fact, I’d say it was refreshing to read something normal, if I weren’t so afraid of how terribly, uh, normative the word ‘normal’ has come to be. And I’d like to add that I particularly enjoyed the anecdote about dog turds.
Inner burblings? His writing sounds a lot better that borborygme! I liked the dog turd joke, too, BTW. :)
Had to look up that word: borborygme. That's a great word.
A real live medical term, too. I love words that sound like their meanings..
"D"
Sir, you live on the Upper West Side. Quite sometime ago you erroneusly stated that Lincoln Center was built on the site of Hell's Kitchen. How could you make such an erggeious mistake about our get city? It was built on San Juan Hill: The Upper West Side’s Lost Neighborhood! San Juan Hill dance halls and jazz clubs of San Juan Hill. A hotbed of African-American culture, San Juan Hill gave birth to music and trends that quickly spread across the country. Thelonious Monk jazz pianist, moved to the Phipps Houses of San Juan Hill at a young age. There, he grew up alongside James P. Johnson pianist and creator of the Charleston Craze that swept the country in the 1920s.
Please correct this disservice to the African-American culture and our city. Post-Haste.
(https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/san-juan-hill-lincoln-center/)
Grace and Peace,
Hugh
Glad to be corrected.
I enjoyed your observations of a simple evening gathering. The flow of seemingly uneventful matters are like a river illuminating the magic and grace of daily life.
Gorgeous prose, as always.
I wonder about serving Mac and Cheese at a 50th. Maybe H.H. should have set the menu.
lyrical. full of good cheer.
🎶 … and the livin’ is easy … 🎼
In the movie "Cabaret," Sally Bowles smiles broadly in the midst of her salacious greeting with "Divine decadence!" You may not have expressed decadence with those back-rubs of of your dear spouse, but the "Ah's" we hear do come close, as we find that special conjunction and all itches disappear. Not much is asked of us, but this act is a holy gift to one we love and a small price to pay for mutual happiness. There's an old saying about the bennies of mutual scratching. These exchanges will likely take us nowhere but Dante's lower realms. Who wants that? Satan himself. Stick to the front porch and sit together on the swing with your loved one. Ah, the rhythm of the swing and the perfectly rendered scratch...moments of perpetual joy....and her "Ah!" and your gift of a "Divine Cadence."
I'm so grateful to be on this planet at the same time as you! You lift me up ... and I thank you. xx's
The planet is doing its best to accommodate us all but maybe we're too many and those of us who've exceeded life expectancy are at fault so it behooves us to try to be useful.
D: Requirements for comments? This could be seen as setting “healthy boundaries,” I suppose, but I can’t imagine you using that term. No, I’m afraid this is a futile attempt at control. Will you censure comments that don’t comply? This just seems like a bad idea. For what it’s worth, I didn’t much enjoy writing this comment.
Thanks for disagreeing. The suggestions were meant to encourage the shy to disagree, question, and point out new directions. No attempt to control at all.
I always like your posts that remind me of Kurt Vonnegut. Todays really rang a bell for "If This Isn't Nice, What Is?" Thank you for all the years of good stories!
I'll offer neither a "D", "Q" or "S"... My comment here falls into the "none of the above" category.
Mr. K.
It's the simple things in life that make us realize things aren't really all that bad. You have it good. Now go have a Blizzard, which, by the way, I favor the Reese's or the Oreo version. My bride favors the Heath Bar blizzard. Word to the wise, never get the large and don't put it in the freezer if you can't finish it, it ruins the taste. Get the medium and eat it slowly, savor the taste. Go back in two days for another, every day would cause one to be labeled addicted.
Thanks for the advice. We should have addedan A to the D, Q, and S.
S
Melted ice cream and concoctions containing it can be rejuvenated in an ice cream maker. I accidentally melted a pint of Ben and Jerry's vanilla last week and it came out great after having been chilled well and then churned for about 50 minutes.
Thank you so much for these comments. They really make my day and make me happy. Since I’m 82 to and have Covid, That’s quite a feat. Keep on keeping on
S-
Being a "Senior" has some advantages. Have you discovered a few of them?
He wrote a book about them. :)
Many. No more long-term planning and a larger sense of independence that comes along with a sense of insignificance.
Insignificance?????! Dear Me, NO!
That's the COVID speaking! Once we're able to get the Gang together again, go floating away with Holland America, and be together, you and all your Prairie Home COMPANIONS, I'm sure that sense of "Insignificance" will disappear! For one thing, you are truly, sincerely, a Marvelous Host! I just think about being in the dining room at one of our suppers, with you wandering the aisles from table to table, putting your hand on the backs of our chairs, and talking with us, one by one, face to face! I remember when I asked you about the time you had left your brief case, with all your recent writing in it, in the AMTRAK terminal in Portland, Oregon! It's little details that come out. I had been stuck in the Portland AMTRAK terminal because of a snow storm - so I could envision the "setting" for your frantic loss very well!
You may meet hundreds of people, even in the course of a week - especially when you're with your Public! This probably seems "normal" to you. But for us, those "incidental meetings" may end up as treasured memories for decades to come! Someone who seems to be "A Star", off on another planet, may also be someone we've spoken with personally - someone who also has memories about the Portland AMTRAK station!
Like the Earth, or a Star, you've got a magnet at your core! "The Church of the Prairie Home" - as some woman in a presentation at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC described your "Planet." We love you, as we love our parents or memorable teachers, as a fixed point in our human universe - a Guiding Light! I'm glad you're reaching out with this GK and Friends Substack page, to keep in contact with many of us who hold the memories of your friendship with us so dearly! Just because we're not there in your mirror to remind you of our presence, doesn't mean you're "insignificant" in any way at all!
Wonderful column, per usual. I can practically taste the burgers and corn, and love the tranquility. Thanks for all of your contributions over many years!
We just had our first fresh corn on the cob last week, with plenty of butter and salt. - a bit of heaven on earth! This batch came from a local farmer, as will the next few, but if we're lucky we'll have our very own corn ready in a month or so, if we can beat the varmints to it. There's nothing to compare with freshly picked and cooked corn on the cob (except maybe for freshly picked and cooked asparagus).
Question: How strictly will you be enforcing the new rules? Are we allowed to send you "N" ("None of the above") Posts to the Host (e.g., "Good luck with your upcoming procedure," or completely off-topic topics)?
Feel free. I gave up strictness some time ago.