Your Mom and I headed northwest last weekend to Norwegian "Uper" country. It is the land where bridges fall down (no disrespect intended) and they serve stinky fish. Yep, we were in Minneapolis.
Our travel day going north was Friday, the day before gun deer hunting officially begins in Wisconsin. We stopped counting "car kills" along the road at around 15. The deer herd is at an all time high count and of course they were moving around as a result of hunters. Then there is this thing called the "rut". A male deer in the "rut" can mistake a Saab car for a female deer. Go figure. "Bucks" get stupid when they are in the rut. Imagine loving a Saab?
When we got to Minneapolis, we were surrounded by a "sea of red". The Wisconsin Badgers were in town to play Minnesota on Saturday. At times it felt like we were in Madison. The game was not available on cable in Minneapolis because it was the exclusive presentation of the BTN (Big Ten Network). The Badgers did win and I lost a bet to Grandson Mitchell.
Grasshopper No. 5 kept us busy with some Christmas shopping. The downtown Nicolett Mall was in the process of being decorated and extortion prices adorned the gifts. Crate and Barrel!
Barnes and Nobel! Maceys! Actually the spending was fairly frugal. It was a festive atmosphere.
Then we attended a presentation of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". The theater is like the Fireside in Fort Atkinson. It is a family operation. It was a delight. They selected a young (around 10 years old) boy and girl from the audience to be in the play. It created lots of interest as you watched the untrained young actors actually particapate in the action. Yes, there was a young stud scantily dressed in a loin cloth prancing around the stage pretending to be Joseph. It wasn't the same as a half naked Donny Osmond. It was the first play that I have ever attended that after the play, the whole audience stayed seated and enjoyed band music as it performed for another 5-10 minutes.
After a light Sunday brunch, we left the "Uper nort" country for home. The weekend passed so fast.
Grasshopper No. 5 is a gracious host. She ochestrated the visit of her guests in flawless fashion. She said to give all her siblings a hug. So hug, hug, hug, hug!
The lesson Grasshoppers is that family visits are precious. Life comes at us very fast. It is good to take time to smell the roses.
My Thanksgiving started early today. I stopped to get snow tires put on the Saab. I used a dealer frequented by Calnin-Goss and my favorite son, Grasshopper No. 3. There was no-charge. They wouldn't take my money because I was the dad of Grasshopper No. 3. Hey, hey, hey! It isn't how much you know, but who you know.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Dad
They prefer Up'er American's, at least be PC about it.