Our poultry, our “friends,” ourselves
DebK of Rosemount writes: “Chicken-butchering of 2021 has just concluded with Taxman’s stuffing the last of this year’s roosters into the freezer. Thus ends an effort that each August or September consumes a full week of our lives and moves me precipitously — though temporarily — toward vegetarianism. And friendlessness, too, as it happens.
Continue reading ““Are you out of your mind? You can get perfectly good chicken at the grocery store.””Remembering 9/11
Including: The Permanent Maternal Record
Zoo Lou of St. Paul writes: “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since the mind-numbing terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
“After watching a documentary by Spike Lee recalling the horrors of that fateful day, I remember something that brought a ray of innocent, and unintended, humor during one of our nation’s darkest hours.
Continue reading ““‘Oh,’ she said almost matter-of-factly, ‘did you hear about that awful thing that happened in New York?’””The Permanent Family Record
Or: What’s in a name?
DebK of Rosemount: “Cousin Linda and I have been attempting to account for the odd names sometimes bestowed on children. Early in this effort, I trotted out a well-worn story of acquaintances who named their children after automobiles: Ford, Mercedes, Porsche, and Edsel. After expressing particular sympathy for the kid named for one of the great duds in car-making history, Cousin Linda confessed that her branch — the Bailey/Ware branch — of the family has a twig called ‘Nash,’ whose naming led Cousin Linda down one of her trademark ‘scenic routes,’ the deliciousness of which must be shared:
Continue reading “How’d you like to go through life with a name like “Edsel”? Would you Rambler be named “Nash”?”Gee, our old LaSalle ran rough?
Or: You’ve come a long way, baby!
Waldo Windmill: “My mother-in-law told the story many times of how she and my father-in-law secretly exchanged marriage vows while each held a teaching position in the same small-town school. They did their best to conceal their union for fear that she would lose her job should the nuptials become public. Adding intrigue to this ‘web of deceit’ was the fact that my father-in-law’s father was the chair of the school board at the time.
Continue reading “Why did the two teachers hide their marriage?”Then & Now
Waldo Windmill writes: “While joining our church congregation in reciting the Lord’s Prayer this past Sunday, my mind wandered back to my childhood. I recalled that, as a youngster, I learned the introductory phrase of the prayer as ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.’ Today, however, most churches, both Catholic and Protestant (including mine), begin ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.
Continue reading “Our Father in heaven, art thou a which or a who?”
