Well, looks like it’s going to be a seasonably cool, but snow free Thanksgiving in Minnesota this year. The past couple have been a bit cooler and much snowier, but it will be ok. Winter will come (I hope). Today, I’m reminded of my 11 year old self, sitting in Ms Condiff’s 6th grade class, hearing High School Principal Jerome Knapp informing us that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. There was no snow on that November day either.
Our high school teachers were told not to tell us what happened so that we could find out from our parents when we got home. I remember walking on frozen, snow-free grass down the hill behind our house on my way home from the bus stop and seeing my mother open the window, yelling to me that the president had been shot. I got inside just in time to see a tearful Walter Cronkite say that he had died.
Why are you writing as if you're a present-day Minnesotan? ("Up here in the north," "we are a stoic people.") Just a few weeks ago you proclaimed happily that you moved to New York City and are now a New Yorker. Can't have it both ways.
You’ve done it again, GK. Made me laugh out loud over your Minnesota musings. You have made me laugh so many times over decades and I thank you for this precious gift.
He selected the place, and I still recall how excited he was about it, while in the taxi, for our first venture.
There was a live band, and we were surprised to see an entertainment tax ($5.00) on the check.
Their small, musical ensembles were never easy on the ears; we returned winter-long for the food.
The waitresses all neared retirement age, and I was concerned for their welfare. They appeared frail, to my 20-yr.-old self. (Needed steak in their diet, or to hang-up the profession, would've been best.)
Had always hoped to go back, however, none of the establishments he took me to would be the same without his fun, cheerful self.
Dear Garrison, I feel your words about turkeys does them a great injustice. Firstly, every species on this earth has dignity, intelligence, and heart far beyond we little humans. And they definitely do not deserve your making fun of them. All creatures are simply a different type of being than us, and deserve our respect and compassion. As an example: I was driving down a road in rural Wisconsin, where I live, when a hen turkey ran across the road in front of me, followed by several of her chicks. I stopped, of course, and noticed that two or three of the chicks were left on the other side of the road. Mama hen turned and saw them and you could see the pain and fright in her, as she frantically ran back to retrieve her other babies. She managed to shoo them back across the road with her, and the little family disappeared into the tall grass. It was a very moving thing to watch, and clearly not the actions of a stupid bird. I think turkeys deserve an apology from you. Thanks for your consideration, Sharon A. from Door County
It won’t get above freezing on Thanksgiving Day here in St Paul, but many of us will ignore the post-Turkey tryptophan coma and head outside for a bracing walk. The chance of sun and maybe some precious one-on-one time with a favorite relative will be irresistible. Plus sampling all the pies won’t seem so ridiculous afterward. But there will be no snow to brag about. In fact, according one local weather reporter, if we get no snow before the end of the month, it will be “the first snowless November in recorded history.” We may be stoics here, but we love hyperbole.
For years I was told by sources in Minnesota that the writer and radio biggie was not universally beloved. I was shocked. They -- distant relatives who were surprised to hear from their second cousin twice removed living hundreds of miles away -- were reluctant to talk at first, but began to concede that the feeling they got from Mr. K was a man who desperately wanted to be someplace else. His departures, they said, were welcome, because everyone wanted this homegrown genius to simply be happy. If it meant Denmark or some such place who were they to quibble.
But now? "Winter is here," but where is here? First person plural doesn't quite work when everyone knows you're delighted to have moved away. Everyone knows the contempt most Americans feel for New York; but to report as a "we here in the stoic north country" native and then high-tail it back home to magical Manhattan just seems so out of sync with the GK who beguiled audiences with a sincerity to match those Anoka roots. Call me unimpressed. You can't be condescending from Minnesota about being a stolid, decent fellow and condescending from Manhattan about being a starry-eyed cosmopolitan. Unless you've drifted into the make believe of actually thinking you're someone that the host of a radio show is going to make into a regular character with infrequent appearances on his popular fictional program. Come to think of it...
It's fine with me if you're unimpressed but when you call me "condescending" you've gone too far. I've been a hard-working writer for decades and I don't condescend to audiences. Don't be a shithead. Show some respectt.
I'm sure all those hard working turkey farmers will be enjoying a Thanksgiving feast of akvavit and lutefisk. I hope they don't read your article or they're liable to stampede and raise their prices even worse next year. Meantime, I'll have a drumstick, thanks!
Winter in the Northeast is like a fickle girlfriend. One day a frigid snowstorm buries your car overnight and it takes hours to dig it out. As soon as you do, the sun replaces the sullen sky and melts everything and you might get a few relatively warm days that actually trick you into thinking you won’t be needing your winter coat anymore and an early Spring is upon us, but then on April Fools Day, another storm blunders in, and so it goes. We’re used to it. We do not talk about what a beautiful day it is because that will signal more snow just to spite you. We’re not really safe until the middle of April. We have a saying in New England. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
Winter in the Northeast is like a fickle girlfriend. One day a frigid snowstorm buries your car overnight and it takes hours to dig it out. As soon as you do, the sun replaces the sullen sky and melts everything and you might get a few relatively warm days that actually trick you into thinking you won’t be needing your winter coat anymore and an early Spring is upon us, but then on April Fools Day, another storm blunders in, and so it goes. We’re used to it. We do not talk about what a beautiful day it is because that will signal more snow just to spite you. We’re not really safe until the middle of April. We have a saying in New England. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
I am fortunate to live near the SE corner of NE (midway between Providence RI and the Cape Cod Canal) where you can almost always count on the snow melting away the next day. Last winter I never needed to shovel and didn't even need to clear any snow off the windshield of my car. It looked pretty on the trees for half a day or so, but then disappeared.
I remember a winter in a cottage on Sandwich Beach, Cape Cod that is. I was unaware the owners shut off the hot water. The shower was a cold blast indeed. I do not mind it in the summertime. I would never plunge into an icy ocean. I'd fear hypothermia. Happy Thanksgiving NE. May the winter be mild and the men strong while the women control the nuclear codes.
Free advice*! BTW, that is definitely NOT the right way to remove snow from your rooftop. There are very long handled snow "rakes" that will do the job well ... and safely. Another, BTW, your fungus fear is unfounded. Valley Fever, although common, is generally very mild and once infected it is highly unlikely that you will ever get it again. * the value of which is well known.
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
Henry Alford, pub.1844 copyright status is Public Domain
Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come,
Bring Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.
Happy Thanksgiving all. Now strap on your skis or skates - or just regular boots - and head on over to Central Park, Mr. K.
Well, looks like it’s going to be a seasonably cool, but snow free Thanksgiving in Minnesota this year. The past couple have been a bit cooler and much snowier, but it will be ok. Winter will come (I hope). Today, I’m reminded of my 11 year old self, sitting in Ms Condiff’s 6th grade class, hearing High School Principal Jerome Knapp informing us that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. There was no snow on that November day either.
Our high school teachers were told not to tell us what happened so that we could find out from our parents when we got home. I remember walking on frozen, snow-free grass down the hill behind our house on my way home from the bus stop and seeing my mother open the window, yelling to me that the president had been shot. I got inside just in time to see a tearful Walter Cronkite say that he had died.
Why are you writing as if you're a present-day Minnesotan? ("Up here in the north," "we are a stoic people.") Just a few weeks ago you proclaimed happily that you moved to New York City and are now a New Yorker. Can't have it both ways.
I can try to have it three or four ways. I'm a Minnesotan living in New York and also a writer and also a performer. Some people are lucky.
lol!
You’ve done it again, GK. Made me laugh out loud over your Minnesota musings. You have made me laugh so many times over decades and I thank you for this precious gift.
I second that, Barbara! ;)
Murray's steakhouse, Minneapolis!
Lovely memories:
I dined with my father. (1987-1988)
He selected the place, and I still recall how excited he was about it, while in the taxi, for our first venture.
There was a live band, and we were surprised to see an entertainment tax ($5.00) on the check.
Their small, musical ensembles were never easy on the ears; we returned winter-long for the food.
The waitresses all neared retirement age, and I was concerned for their welfare. They appeared frail, to my 20-yr.-old self. (Needed steak in their diet, or to hang-up the profession, would've been best.)
Had always hoped to go back, however, none of the establishments he took me to would be the same without his fun, cheerful self.
Home of the "Butterknife Steak for Two."
as usual, by the end of your shrunken testicles story, I am grinning, glad I'm not a guy. happy holiday.
Myrna, if you're a fan of testicle stories... I just posted one - 3 minutes ago, lol
Dear Garrison, I feel your words about turkeys does them a great injustice. Firstly, every species on this earth has dignity, intelligence, and heart far beyond we little humans. And they definitely do not deserve your making fun of them. All creatures are simply a different type of being than us, and deserve our respect and compassion. As an example: I was driving down a road in rural Wisconsin, where I live, when a hen turkey ran across the road in front of me, followed by several of her chicks. I stopped, of course, and noticed that two or three of the chicks were left on the other side of the road. Mama hen turned and saw them and you could see the pain and fright in her, as she frantically ran back to retrieve her other babies. She managed to shoo them back across the road with her, and the little family disappeared into the tall grass. It was a very moving thing to watch, and clearly not the actions of a stupid bird. I think turkeys deserve an apology from you. Thanks for your consideration, Sharon A. from Door County
I was referring to the overbred factory-made turkeys in a herd, not to the individual parental turkey. Peace be with you and happy thanksgiving.
It won’t get above freezing on Thanksgiving Day here in St Paul, but many of us will ignore the post-Turkey tryptophan coma and head outside for a bracing walk. The chance of sun and maybe some precious one-on-one time with a favorite relative will be irresistible. Plus sampling all the pies won’t seem so ridiculous afterward. But there will be no snow to brag about. In fact, according one local weather reporter, if we get no snow before the end of the month, it will be “the first snowless November in recorded history.” We may be stoics here, but we love hyperbole.
If you had snow in Somewhere, MN, and snow in New York City, NY, which place would you rather be for, say, Dec 1-3, Mr. Keillor?
I go do shows wherever they want me to go and otherwise I sit at my desk in the dining room and work on stuff. A simple life and very pleasant.
LOL thanks.
Love it. Nice juxtapositions there.
Men who can take the cold and men who flee the cold to lounge and lie in Florida.
haha!
For years I was told by sources in Minnesota that the writer and radio biggie was not universally beloved. I was shocked. They -- distant relatives who were surprised to hear from their second cousin twice removed living hundreds of miles away -- were reluctant to talk at first, but began to concede that the feeling they got from Mr. K was a man who desperately wanted to be someplace else. His departures, they said, were welcome, because everyone wanted this homegrown genius to simply be happy. If it meant Denmark or some such place who were they to quibble.
But now? "Winter is here," but where is here? First person plural doesn't quite work when everyone knows you're delighted to have moved away. Everyone knows the contempt most Americans feel for New York; but to report as a "we here in the stoic north country" native and then high-tail it back home to magical Manhattan just seems so out of sync with the GK who beguiled audiences with a sincerity to match those Anoka roots. Call me unimpressed. You can't be condescending from Minnesota about being a stolid, decent fellow and condescending from Manhattan about being a starry-eyed cosmopolitan. Unless you've drifted into the make believe of actually thinking you're someone that the host of a radio show is going to make into a regular character with infrequent appearances on his popular fictional program. Come to think of it...
It's fine with me if you're unimpressed but when you call me "condescending" you've gone too far. I've been a hard-working writer for decades and I don't condescend to audiences. Don't be a shithead. Show some respectt.
You're absolutely right. I take back every word.
But can I say one other thing? I think you might not be a very nice person, after all.
I can think of several people who would agree with you about that, including a few who are related to me.
Then I take back the word "shithead".
Hi Garrison,
I'm sure all those hard working turkey farmers will be enjoying a Thanksgiving feast of akvavit and lutefisk. I hope they don't read your article or they're liable to stampede and raise their prices even worse next year. Meantime, I'll have a drumstick, thanks!
Roger Krenkler - Westlake Village ( L.A. )
Winter in the Northeast is like a fickle girlfriend. One day a frigid snowstorm buries your car overnight and it takes hours to dig it out. As soon as you do, the sun replaces the sullen sky and melts everything and you might get a few relatively warm days that actually trick you into thinking you won’t be needing your winter coat anymore and an early Spring is upon us, but then on April Fools Day, another storm blunders in, and so it goes. We’re used to it. We do not talk about what a beautiful day it is because that will signal more snow just to spite you. We’re not really safe until the middle of April. We have a saying in New England. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
Winter in the Northeast is like a fickle girlfriend. One day a frigid snowstorm buries your car overnight and it takes hours to dig it out. As soon as you do, the sun replaces the sullen sky and melts everything and you might get a few relatively warm days that actually trick you into thinking you won’t be needing your winter coat anymore and an early Spring is upon us, but then on April Fools Day, another storm blunders in, and so it goes. We’re used to it. We do not talk about what a beautiful day it is because that will signal more snow just to spite you. We’re not really safe until the middle of April. We have a saying in New England. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
I am fortunate to live near the SE corner of NE (midway between Providence RI and the Cape Cod Canal) where you can almost always count on the snow melting away the next day. Last winter I never needed to shovel and didn't even need to clear any snow off the windshield of my car. It looked pretty on the trees for half a day or so, but then disappeared.
I remember a winter in a cottage on Sandwich Beach, Cape Cod that is. I was unaware the owners shut off the hot water. The shower was a cold blast indeed. I do not mind it in the summertime. I would never plunge into an icy ocean. I'd fear hypothermia. Happy Thanksgiving NE. May the winter be mild and the men strong while the women control the nuclear codes.
Free advice*! BTW, that is definitely NOT the right way to remove snow from your rooftop. There are very long handled snow "rakes" that will do the job well ... and safely. Another, BTW, your fungus fear is unfounded. Valley Fever, although common, is generally very mild and once infected it is highly unlikely that you will ever get it again. * the value of which is well known.
All I know is what was in the paper. Thanks for the correction.