Maybe Ducks Can Survive Hurricanes

A couple of years ago I read the book, "A Confederacy of Dunces". The book is a strange piece of fiction about a character from New Orleans. There are fan clubs for the book and the author who committed suicide at a young age. The book was published a decade after he died due to his mother's persistence . She finally found an allie in Walker Percy who became the novel's champion. "A Confederacy of Dunces" is a very strange but amusing book.

Today I heard a true story that is almost as weird. I walked at the fieldhouse this morning. Neither of my regular walking buddies came. I spotted someone I knew and walked a few rounds with him. He told me the tale of Ruthie the Duck Girl of New Orleans. He had met her when he was a young sailor on leave in New Orleans in the early sixties. For the rest of her life she told people he was her fiance. Ruthie was kindly referred to as an eccentric character. She stayed in touch by letter for years. In the late 90's he was contacted by a filmmaker doing a documentary on her life because Ruthie identified him as her fiance. He was asked to be in the film. This past Sept. she died of cancer.

I found his story somewhat strange and googled her name. He had the facts correct. The article also says she was very well known in the French Quarter for years. Tourists would ask how to find Antoines and Ruthie the Duck lady. I wonder if there was a true life character that inspired John Kennedy Otoole when he wrote his book.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mitchellspublications.com/cs/1/pe/01-image.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mitchellspublications.com/cs/1/pe/index.htm&usg=__VRUtBV49WCLi2y2mLOvwlnCU8RM=&h=437&w=320&sz=29&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=Pbt2at5XEK2EKM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Druthie%2Bthe%2Bduck%2Bgirl%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Not Gifts from the Wisemen

The Christ child got gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but Minnesota is stuck with COLD, FRANKEN sense, and MORE snow. Not gifts of the wisemen. More like gifts of a wiseguy. That is what we got on Saturday night's live newscast.
It seems like it either snows everyday or we hear predictions of snow everyday. Yesterday for variety it started with freezing rain. I'll be quiet and take the snow please.
Minnesota will go from freezing rain to "purple reign" today with the Vikings in the NFL playoffs. The game was almost blacked out due to unsold tickets. The league will not allow broadcast of a game that is not a sell-out. After two 24 hr. extensions enough tickets were sold. These are bleak economic times and some of the $100 tickets weren't moving.
The other Viking news ----the owner wants us to build a new stadium. Hey wiseguy, did you notice the 5 billion $$$ deficit in Minnesota's budget? Just because we are building a new Twins baseball park and a Gopher stadium you assume it is time for the Vikings to cash in? Better win the Superbowl and then we will talk. Purple reign indeed.
Current ballot count: Al Franken + 250. More boards and probably the State Supreme Court have to weigh in before we have a senator. Next time can we just draw straws and spend the money on a new football stadium?

Scene Stealers

Indulge this grandma, if you will. Here are recent pictures of the twins. Zoe, in pink, at her sweetest with a big smile and Roman looking cuddley.

Shopping at the No Name Store

For decades we had a convenience store nearby named Brooks. Brooks was a smallregional chain of stores. This store was sold and changed name to become The Oasis Market in the last decade. We still called it Brooks. (Do not confuse this Oasis Market with the River Oasis Cafe in Stillwater which I previously blogged about.)

Around a year or so ago Oasis sold it to a local couple who run it as an independent store. They remodeled adding a coffee bar, outdoor patio with furniture and front step rockers. They repaved the lot. They painted over the sign that said Oasis but they never put a name on the sign above the store.

I don't write checks anymore, preferring to use my debit card or cash so I have no idea what the store is named. I think of it as the "No Name Store". I find it odd that they showed such pride in restoring this thirty yr old store and not call it "Johnsons" or "Nelsons" or whatever their own name is. I would have named it after myself. No matter.

This week Cub Foods is featuring No Name Steaks sale priced. No Name Steaks has always amused me. Before there were "no name" steaks were there named steaks? Did we eat Bessie Burgers or Elsie steaks? (think Borden's Elsie the cow) Meat didn't have a brand, did it? There are exceptions.

When my sister and husband bought their little ranch in Texas, they raised a steer to eat. They got him as a calf and he became like a pet. They hand fed him and he came when they called. They named him "Hamburger". When he was fully grown they had him processed as beef. Carolyn said they would regret naming him Hamburger because some of the packages of beef they got back from the butcher after he was slaughtered were marked "hamburger". I guess that is just keeping it real. If we are carnivores, and I am, we are eating animals. No wonder we don't usually name them.

I still don't see why they don't name that store, though, unless they plan to sell No Name Steaks.

If they called it "The No Name Store" would they have copyright infringement with the steak company?

Top Ten Things I Am Thankful For in 2009

If you don't focus on what is right in your life you will probably zero in on what is wrong. Take time to cheer yourself up. On the days you feel your lowest, stop and see what is good. Be grateful. Something I read this year had the question, "What if you only got to keep what you thanked God for?" It is the beginning of the New Year and time for inventory.

MY LIST:

It is 2009 and I woke up still here. In the later years of my mom's life she would laugh as the numbers added up on her birthdays and say, "considering the alternative, that is okay". She used humor and did consider the alternative and not fear that either. There are seasons in life. Enjoy all of them. Yesterday I was a little less positive and said to Jon, my husband, "I don't think I like being an old lady that much." He came back with, "Neither do I". Love that guy.

I am thankful for the guy who still loves me and makes me laugh. Forty years of marriage. We have come through a year of several health challenges for him. I am grateful for that being in the past. Grateful for healing and Doctors and kind nurses.

We raised four kids we are proud of and love. I am grateful for all the joys over the years and memories of their growing up. They are now mature adults and I enjoy their company.

Four grandkids: Zach and Mina, Zoe and Roman.

Coffee. I like and am thankful for coffee. (This list is not done in order of importance.) I have a pretty good stash in the pantry in case we have a "nucular" war with South America. When I was a kid on the farm my sister and I tried smoking coffee grounds rolled in paper. We had to give it up when my mom switched to instant coffee---the stuff melted when we lit up. I only lived on the farm until age 9 so you can see I had a degenerate youth. So much for clean rural living.

Friends. Old friends and new. There have been several who have encouraged me and cheered me up this year during one trial or another. When our daughter was going through a difficult pregnancy and delivery they could see the end of the tunnel before I could. Prayer helps. Friends help.

I am thankful I haven't seen "Jon's little pet" that lives in our garage lately. Is it a bat? A bird? It is probably a bat. I am at ease during daylight hours but move in and out of that garage pretty quickly after dark.

My birdfeeder is on my lists of things that bring joy to my life. Jon recently moved it to a spot under the eaves where I can see the birds close up and fill the feeder by cranking open a window. We have downy woodpeckers at the suet and saw many migrating birds this fall. I like the redpoles and finches. On a cold, snowy day they are very busy eating to stay warm.

How did I ever live without boneless, skinless, frozen chicken breasts. Enough said. Low fat and high protein and the convenience of being ready to go. Toss one on the George Foreman grill without even thawing for a quick dinner.

It is clementine season. Yum. Notice how much of my list is about eating?

Public radio.

Books and a good local public library that lets me request books online and after assembling "my order" calls to tell me they are ready.

A fieldhouse nearby where I can walk when the sidewalks are icy or the wind too cold.

Fleece. Nice, warm fleece when the temperature drops.

Granola and yogurt.

The local farmer's market. Buy local produce and keep some of our land in agriculture.

Falling gasoline prices. Hope springs eternal that we won't have $4 gas again.

Newspapers which are an endangered industry. I browse the internet and spend time online, but still love a hard copy to read in the morning. I am thankful someone still delivers it to our door.

Extended family and especially a recent family reunion that helped me get to know some of my younger cousins. (Face it Jane, most of them are younger.) My sister and Jon's sister and their families.

2009 and the election is almost over. Most of you thought it was over, but in Minnesota the senate race drags on. Score now: +49 for Al Franken with more absentee ballots still being scrutinized. Maybe our governor has the power to appoint a "Caretaker Senator" like the Gov. of Rhode Island. Maybe he could send Jesse Ventura out to DC. The media jackals would love it. Hey there is a bright side. They haven't been running any Franken or Coleman commercials since Nov. 4.

See...........that was twenty things I am grateful for, not ten. If you think about it, there are always more blessings than bad things. Happy New Year. Try making your own lists.

Happy New Year

Time Squared

The New Year's "Ball" drops a lot earlier at our house. In recent years we have stayed in on New Year's Eve and gone to bed before midnight.

Last night we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate. We went out at 5:30. Ole! People our youngest son's age had probably not even decided where they were going to toast in the New Year by that hour. After dinner Jon said, "I don't think I am going to see the new year." I added, "Not at midnight, but it will still be the new year in the morning. Little did I know that both of us would fall asleep so early we were already getting up before midnight to see the new year in. Old people. Gotta love them, especially if you are them.

I view life as a continuous line coiled in a circle. The middle is the end. Time seems to go faster as you get closer to the middle.

I can't believe it is 2009. We have never gotten a definitive name for this decade, have we? Millenial decade? Maybe. Anyway, I am just happy to be here. Happy Jon and I are both here to see the new year in. Happy New Year to all.

Every day I am thrilled at the new life in our family when I visit the baby blog our daughter publishes online. Those babies are doing the big, outer circles. http://chezdeux.blogspot.com/

Today I am going to watch the Rose Bowl Parade on TV and try to spot my BFF Barb who is watching the parade in Pasadena this year. I think she will look more comfortable in California than the shivering people in Times Square last night. Good plan, Barb.