Trees On The Nicollet Mall

Today Offspring #2 and I traveled down to Nicollet Mall. We walked between 8th and 2nd, between Macy's and the Minneapolis Library. The mall was crowded and bustling. Trains and buses went past and horns were honking. As we went by the Mary Tyler Moore statue I noticed the trees on Nicollet Mall. When did they plant red oak trees in the midst of downtown? Red oaks seem more like a rural tree to me - the kind of tree you see in pastures with milk cows grazing beneath them. Or you might see a red oak on a slight rise just beyond a wetland. I gotta say, red oaks on the Nicollet mall look awesome. They're about 15 feet high and decorated with white lights. But the light brown leaves that remain on the red oaks in the winter are their finest decoration. We went to the 8th floor auditorium display at Macy's. This year the show was all about elves geting ready for Christmas. We saw animated elves of every color and race. We saw elves sleeping, elves teasing each other, elves baking holiday treats, elves sorting mail, elves chopping chunks off a giant chocolate chip, elves balancing accounting books, elves singing, elves decorating, elves making mistakes, and elves fumbling around blindly with a box over their head. My favorite part was a singing tree choir. The trees had faces and books in their hands. Some swayed side to side with the music. All the trees were smiling and resplendent with their frosted branches and multicolored lights. These were more like Vegas trees than Minnesota trees. They were lively and festive and they made me smile.

The End Of An Era

The year? 1979. The job? Nuclear pharmacy technician doing quality control on bone scans, lung, scans, and brain scan injections (back in a career fumbling time of life). The setting? A nuclear pharmacy across the street from Louis' Tavern (home of great Italian sausage sandwiches) on University Avenue near Vandalia in St. Paul. This is where a coworker turned me on to a radio show called "The Morning Show." The stars of the show were Jim Ed Poole and Garrison Keillor (before Prairie Home Companion) and have been Jim Ed and Dale Connelley for the past 25 years or so. I've been listening to this show during my morning commute for almost 30 years. I am sad to say that December 11, 2008 will be the last broadcast. The Morning Show has been my companion for so long. I feel I have grown up with this show. Dale and Jim Ed are my friends. The Morning Show where I would request songs to be played for my children's birthdays. I would record the song and Jim Ed's voice announcing their name and birthday for them. The Morning Show where I came to know and love artists such as Greg Brown, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Suzy Roche, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Leon Redbone, and Ethel Merman. I always loved the alarm before they played Ethel Merman. This is the show where I reminisced about my early years when ever they would play cowboy songs like Mule Skinner Blues or Drifting Along Like the Tumbling Tumbleweed. The Morning Show would play songs about every topic under the sun (duct tape, lime jello marshmallow cottage cheese surprise, bears dancing in the woods, sweet potatoes, rings of fire, the speed of planetary revolution, and impressionist painters). I have come to know the skit characters like Bud Buck, Captain Billy (Arrrgh!), and Dr. Larry Kyle from the Genway Corporation. I have been a faithful listener except during the weeks where they beg for money. I absolutely cannot stand the fundraising weeks. If there is a hell and if I go there, I'm sure the radio will be broadcasting fundraising appeals. In any case, I am so sad this show is ending. I will miss The Morning Show very much.

On another note, thanks to a reader and the Snopes website I know the felon website I gave you is not legit. Every time you type in your address different criminals and crimes appear. Not knowing where the felons are does not make me feel safer.

Project Feeder Watch Update

Saturday: Slate colored Junco-1, Black Capped Chickadee-5, Crow-1

Sunday: White Breasted Nuthatch-1, Black Capped Chickadee-6, Downy Woodpecker-1, Crow-1, Canada Geese-31

(I wasn't going to count the geese because they were flying above my yard but they were in the viewing area and they passed through not once, not twice, but three times and honking at full volume all the way. I don't know what was up with these geese. Were they lost? Lacking leadership skills? Confused because the Rum River iced over for the first time this season?)

Dachshund Philosophy

Suscribe to the Dachshund Philosophy! I just heard about it yesterday. The Dachshund Philosophy (in a nutshell) is this:
Why Can We All Just Get A Long Little Doggy?

Star Struck

Today I had the opportunity to listen to Lorna Landvik speak at the local library. Oh, the joy. She was great. There was standing room only. She read a little from her newest novel which I haven't read yet. Unfortunately, the bookseller who came did not bring enough copies so I could not get one. I can't remember the title of it but I know it has a Christmas theme so it would have been a great book to buy this time of year. She read from that book and spoke a little about the characters from her other books. She answered questions. She even answered one of my questions! I asked who were her favorite authors. I was so star struck I can't remember who she listed. Jon Hassler was one and Ann Tyler (also on my list) but I can't remember who else she said. Some of her favorite authors were put into the book, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. I'll have to go back and read that again.

Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse

I just finished reading an old classic, "Steppenwolf" by Herman Hesse. Hesse is a German author and a steppenwolf is German for wolf of the steppes. Here in Minnesota, we'd probably name it Timberwolf. The story is of a man who thinks he has two beings inside of him. One of his beings is a man and the other one is a wolf. He thinks he's part wolf because sometimes he wants to be alone and feels like growling at people who intrude his space. In truth, sometimes I want to be alone and sometimes I also feel like growling at certain people so maybe I am a Steppenwolf too. After reading this book, I think the author must have been doing some drugs during his writing. Some parts reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. The main character drinks small glasses of liqueur and smokes hand rolled cigarettes and suddenly his world gets magical. At the end of the book the character goes through a series of rooms that totally sounded like the Holodecks on Star Trek. You remember Holodecks? They were enclosed entertainment rooms where the environments, down to every last detail like temperature and smells and colors, were simulated and capable of interaction. At the end of the book, the main character comes out a better man; improved because of his experiences and more aware of his strength and weaknesses. Steppenwolf was a good book.

Thanksgiving Cookie Art-Cookies Are In My Future

Thank Scribbit for this Thanksgiving cookie recipe that I plan to make soon. They are simple enough. Glue a peanut butter cup to a ginger snap with frosting, band it with white frosting and add a yellow buckle. I have another plan for turkeys involving chocolate sandwich cookies, candy corn feathers, Whopper heads, and frosting eyes and beaks. I borrowed a spritz cookie press from a gal at work for the week. And I am seriously thinking about Rosettes. I know Thanksgiving is supposed to be about turkey, potatoes, and pie but I've got cookies on the brain (and a tofurky in the freezer.