May 9

Sometimes all you need is a great friend and a tank of gas. ~ Thelma and Louise

Just a little over a month ago I started off the “Remembering ‘Rock'” post this way:

“The Fat Boys Walking Club lost a founding member last week. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Paul ‘Rock’ Fieldhammer. Rock, for some unknown reason, was a follower of this blog. So I hope to do him well, we will miss him. Walking and hiking quotes will be featured throughout, just because. Before the Y was built, the Fat Boys did our winter walking in the mall. Paul arrived one day, and for several thereafter, wearing a backpack. In his backpack, he carried a rock. He said it was in preparation for his winter hiking in Arizona. At that moment he obtained the appellation of ‘Rock,’ bestowed upon him by the club’s giver of nicknames, Bob ‘Weakie’ Annen.“

Well, now we’ve lost “Weakie”: https://www.andersonfuneral.net/obituary/Robert-Annen

All you need to do to be my friend is like me. ~ Taylor Swift

Bob & I initiated the Fat Boys Walking Club 20 years ago. It’s now internationally fabled in song and story. Bob & Vivian moved to Alexandria from Plymouth in 1997 (as I recall) shortly after his retirement from Honeywell. They wanted to live on a lake, and I think their original plan was to live within a 100-mile radius of the Twin Cities. Somehow that got expanded, and in their expanded search area they came up Alexandria. They had never been here before. Yet within two hours of their first ever visit here they bought a house. That house was in the L’Homme Dieu View Townhome Association, where my mom lived. So we got to know the Annens even before we retired to Alex in 2001.

[L’Homme Dieu View Townhomes, c. 1987. Weakie and Viv’s house is in the lower right hand corner hidden among the trees on the shores of Lake Le Homme Dieu. Mom’s house was on the lefthand side of the middle two-story duplex. There are now houses on both sides of the road heading south out of the association and all the grassy areas in the center and on the right are now all covered with houses . . . ]

Bob and I would hike in the area around his neighborhood before switching to the Central Lakes Trail. In the early years, we would walk west from Big Ole on the trail to West Lake Cowdry Road, then down West Lake Cowdry Road to County Road 82, and back again. That walk took a full two hours, and covered 43.2 miles (estimate, at best). Based on our physiques, people found that hard to believe. So we had to tell them we celebrated completion of our daily routine with a dozen doughnuts. In times (or seasons) of inclement weather, we walked the mall for two hours, after which we would go to the gym for a half hour every other day. Bob was the giver nicknames. While walking the mall he established nicknames for all the other walkers. In fact he was the one who gave himself the nickname, “Weakie.” After some medical procedure or another he returned to the golf course only to exclaim he couldn’t hit the ball as far as he used to – “I’m a real Weakie.”

The following are five photos Weakie recently sent to his fellow Fat Boys . . .

2004

[These are the first photos I unearthed from the time capsule. Bob took me along on a road trip to Biwabik for a couple days of golf at the Quarry and Giants Ridge golf courses . . . ]

[Bob’s friend from Honeywell, me, and Bob . . . ]

[Bob and I took on the two young bucks, lefthanded ex-hockey players who could hit the ball a mile, but we won because age & experience beats youth & enthusiasm every time . . . ]

2005

So, the question was raised – how could the two of us stand to be with each other for two hours every day? Bob was 10 years older; he was business and I was government; he was a church every Sunday Catholic and I, like Ron Reagan, am a lifelong atheist; he was a conservative Republican and I am a liberal Democrat; he was pro-birth and I’m pro-choice; he hunted (though he gave up NRA membership many years ago when it became a political action committee) and I didn’t. Actually, it was quite easy. He’d call me a Commie and I’d call him a fascist, and we’d take it from there . . .

[This was the year we walked every street in the Alexandria city limits. Bob was not from Alex and wanted to the see the whole town; and, though I was raised here, there were plenty of neighborhoods I’d never seen before. It took us 5 weeks, walking 6 days a week. We took Sundays off for good behavior. I wrote a story of our daring adventure, and the Echo Press published it.]

[Bob at the finish line. I thought it’d be cool to end our grand trek at Noonan Park . . . ]

[And then Bob and Viv came over to our place for a celebration . . . ]

[This was our first trip to Terrace, Minnesota, an unincorporated community on the Chippewa River (it was originally named Chippewa Falls, but since there was already one of those in Wisconsin), about 38 miles straight south of Alex . . . ]

[We went there a few times around Christmas to the lone restaurant, which at the time was owned and operated by two guys, one from New York, and the other from Key West. It was quite good . . . ]

2006

“It” actually begins here. This photo is now so old, the date inscription on it messes with my mind. This has to be from 2004. The young ladies in the background surrounding Weakie (actually many years before he became Weakie) are Ashley Holmes, Kat DelZoppo, and Abby Williams. When they were all seniors, they led the Alexandria Cardinals to the girls state hockey championship in 2008. I believe they were all 8th-graders here but had already convinced us great things were in their future. And thus were born the Super Fans, the precursor of the Fat Boys Walking Club . . .

An early connection between Bob and me was the absence of any urge to become snowbirds (Bob and Viv later tried a couple months in Florida for a couple years, didn’t like it, stopped doing it). So, what do retirees in Minnesota do in the winter? We go to girls hockey games! I jumped in first, talked Weakie into joining me, and we were both hooked immediately. At first Bob & I had the whole center section of the stands for ourselves – friends and families of the players sat in a section to our left. They had never seen “other” fans at girls games. Pretty soon a couple of them bravely crept into our section to see what we old bucks were all about. At first we were asked if we had granddaughters on the team. We responded “all of them,” and we were suddenly accepted by one and all. Hockey moms made sure we were aware of all the goings on. We were invited to team parties and graduation parties.

[Here we are at the Andrea and Sara Toft (don’t ask me which is which) graduation party in 2006. They were a lot of fun and went on to play hockey at Augsburg . . . ]

[In the summer, we golfed. This is the senior men’s league annual steak fry and putting contest, including significant others. Can you find Weakie?]

[This was Weakie’s tree. It was situated in the right hand rough on the 16th hole on the Alexandria Golf Course. It came into play a lot for players who had a tendency to go in that direction. Weakie hated it. But in this photo you can see the tree is in bad shape. When it was cut down, Weakie went over to the course with a bottle of Jack Daniels (I think) to celebrate its demise. I took a photo of him with arms raised, Rocky style, standing over the trunk. I can’t find the photo?]

[Later in the year, back at a girls hockey game. By now our reputations were preceding us. More and more seniors (a/k/a, retirees) were joining us. The team named us the Super Fans . . . ]

[Back in Terrace the next Christmas season, here was the restaurant . . . ]

[Inside, Bob was the lead photographer in those days . . . ]

2007

[A representative group of Super Fans at a girls hockey game . . . ]

[Throughout the 2010’s, our girls teams regularly made it to the state tournament in the Twin Cities. We always had to join them, of course. Here we’re standing on a corner in Dinkytown on the U of M campus with the Minneapolis skyline in the background . . . ]

[And as much as anything, from what Ruthie and I learned having attended 25 Final Fours, dining was as big a draw as the actual games. This appears to be post-game celebration at Vescio’s in Dinkytown . . .

[And here’s all the senior golfers again – can you find Weakie?]

[And here the Super Fans have a pre-game nosh at Sixth Avenue Wine & Ale in Alex . . . ]

[And then to the game. I believe it was the Shaughnessys, on the far right, who brought a bunch of small red flasher lights with a German beer logo on them that we all turned on when Alex scored a goal. The team thought how cute of us . . . ]

Talk radio has almost ruined the sports fan. ~ Phil Simms

[Now that we were experts, Weakie got invited to the post-game radio report with Dave Harris on KXRA. We obviously won . . .]

2008

Another year, another year of girls hockey. This was the year the Cardinals won the state championship – and we Super Fans predicted it from the start of the season . . .

[Viv & Bob at a game in Detroit Lakes (yes, we actually did road games in those days) where we visited our first Zorbaz restaurant . . . ]

One good reason to only maintain a small circle of friends is that three out of four murders are committed by people who know the victim. ~ George Carlin

[Home ice, the Runestone Community Center in Alexandria . . . ]

[For many years we attended girls hockey fund raisers at the Eagles club. It took a few years before we learned we were eating bison burgers (raised by the Drown hockey family) . . . ]

We are keenly aware of the faults of our friends, but if they like us enough it doesn’t matter. ~ Mignon McLaughlin

[Patty Wicken, local radio personality, joined our table that year . . . ]

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. ~ Oprah Winfrey

[At the state tournament in St. Paul where the Science Museum of Minnesota is conveniently just across the street from where the hockey games are played. We’re more than just sports fans, after all . . . ]

[If only I could remember all our fine dining locations? Dave and Joyce Rogosheske, as you may have noticed in other photos, often joined us in those years . . . ]

[Celebrating the girls hockey state championship with some bubbly at the St. Paul Hotel . . . ]

[Blocking traffic at The Landmark Center off Rice Park in downtown St. Paul . . . ]

[Weakie and Peppermint Patty in Rice Park, the Ordway Center in the background . . . ]

[Bob & Viv’s daugher Angie and her friend Ken joined us after a tournament game. I believe this was at Cecil’s Deli near the campuses of St. Thomas and St. Catherine . . . ]

When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, Damn, that was fun. ~ Groucho Marx

Friendship is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warm feeling inside. ~ Robert Bloch

[While mall walking, Bob got to reminisce about his youth . . . ]

[ . . . growing up on a farm near New Ulm . . . ]

[We were invited to the team party celebrating the state championship. The parents of a team member hosted in their beautiful remodeled barn . . . ]

[With the aforementioned Ashley Holmes, a team captain, an all-stater, a Herb Brooks Honoree, played D1 hockey at North Dakota, and is now an assistant women’s hockey coach and assistant sports information director at Augsburg – always one of our all-time favorite players . . . ]

[At the team’s summer party with hockey mom, Martha Williams, who was an original discoverer of the Super Fans . . . ]

[It was an annual tradition to celebrate Mother’s Day with the Annens and my mom at the golf club . . . ]

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one! ~ C.S. Lewis

[The Super Fans hosted a dinner for the hockey team at the golf club. Here’s Bob with the aforementioned Kat DelZoppo. He nicknamed Kat “The Sniper” because she had great hands and scored in a lot of scrums around the net . . . ]

[New Year’s Eve (and birthday eve for the Super) at the Annen’s . . . ]

In Hawaii, it was forbidden – ‘kapu’ – for men and women to eat together. Women were also barred from eating certain foods, notably bananas because the sight of females consuming phallic fruit offended Hawaiian men. Breaking a kapu was a crime . . . ~ Sarah Vowell, “Unfamiliar Fishes”

2009

[The Super Fans at the MAC in St. Cloud. It must have been a girls hockey sectional game . . . ]

[Weakie was a long-time avid Cathy Wurzer fan . . . ]

[So when I heard she would be at Cherry Street Books for a book signing, I had to make sure he would be there with bells on. We had a nice visit with her . . . ]

[April 16, with club pro Ron Rebrovich (middle), the boys ready to play the first round of the year . . . ]

[The L’Homme Dieu View madcap quilting and rutabaga club: Bob & Viv with their best friends in their townhome association, Jack and Alice Juettner on the left, and Dorothy and Paul Arnesen on the right . . . ]

[Wanted in several states for attempting to purchase bootleg Malbec . . . ]

[The boys in the Cardinal Foundation Golf Tournament. We may not have done well in golf, but we won the tug of war . . . ]

[The senior guys again – 13 years later, by my reckoning, 12 of us are still “here” . . . ]

[The senior men’s league formed random teams with each outing. I think the reason for this photo was this team beat all other entries biggly while being the three oldest players that day. Bob was the last survivor of this group – I did a similar piece on Dave in 2012 and Dar died last November at age 96 . . .]

[The Friday after Thanksgiving, the annual lighting of the city Christmas lights with festivities beginning at Fort Alexandria (that’s Weakie on the right filming) . . . ]

[A December afternoon at the winery . . . ]

This wraps up Part 1. When I started working on this homage to Bob, I discovered I had well over 200 photos of our times together. I weeded some out but decided the best approach was just to add a second post. See you there . . .

A final message from the Weakster . . .

We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience. ~ George Bernard Shaw

I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Addendum 7-10-22

[A photo recently popped up as a memory on FB. We are with Beth Rindy, a former Cardinal hockey player, on July 8, 2010, at an event which escapes memory . . . ]

April 23

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~ John Muir

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together … all things connect. ~ Chief Seattle

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. ~ Jane Goodall

The good man is the friend of all living things. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

[Gene Rose – Douglas County Lakes Association]

The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. ~ Robert Swan

We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share. ~ Maya Angelou

[Viola Riggle – Audubon Society]

Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling. ~ Greta Thunberg

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Earth Day should encourage us to reflect on what we are doing to make our planet a more sustainable and livable place. ~ Scott Peters

[John Riggle – Audubon Society]

If every day were Earth Day we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson, on Earth Day in 2022‍

I have learned you are never too small to make a difference. ~ Greta Thunberg

Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act. ~ Albert Einstein

Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is an international grassroots environmental group that trains and supports volunteers to build relationships with their elected representatives in order to influence climate policy. The CCL is a registered 501(c)(4) with approximately $680,000 in revenue in the United States in 2018.  Operating since 2007, the goal of CCL is to build political support across party lines to put a price on carbon, specifically a revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend (CF&D) at the national level. CCL is supported by notable climate scientists James Hansen, Katherine Hayhoe, and Daniel Kammen.  CCL’s advisory board also includes former Secretary of State George P. Schultz, former US Representative Bob Inglis, actor Don Cheadle, and RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris. Founded in the United States, the CCL has chapters in over 70 countries (Wikipedia).

I’m not that special. I can’t convince everyone. I’m just going to do what I want to do and what will have the most impact. ~ Greta Thunberg

The earth is what we all have in common. ~ Wendell Berry

When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money. ~ Alanis Obomsawin, Indigenous filmmaker

We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it. ~ Barack Obama

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Do something. Pay your rent for the privilege of living on this beautiful, blue-green, living Earth. ~ Dave Foreman

When enough people come together, then change will come and we can achieve almost anything. So instead of looking for hope — start creating it. ~ Greta Thunberg

My faith is an enormous motivator for me to engage as well, because climate change is not just an issue that affects the entire planet, it is one that disproportionately affects those who do not have the resources to cope with this change — those whom we are explicitly told as Christians to care for. ~ Katharine Hayhoe

[Tim Schoonhoven – Alexandria’s City Engineer]

For Christians, doing something about climate change is about living out our faith — caring for those who need help, our neighbors here at home or on the other side of the world, and taking responsibility for this planet that God created and entrusted to us. ~ Katharine Hayhoe

[John Riggle]

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty. ~ John Ruskin

The main solution is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop the emission of greenhouse gases. ~ Greta Thunberg

The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. ~ Lady Bird Johnson

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead

I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet, you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? ~ Greta Thunberg, UN Climate Change Summit New York, September 2019.

To my old brown earth / And to my old blue sky / I’ll now give these last few molecules of ‘I.’ / And you who sing, / And you who stand nearby, / I do charge you not to cry. ~ Pete Seeger, “To My Old Brown Earth”

Global warming is, quite simply, the biggest thing that humans have ever managed to do. ~ Bill McKibben

There is no such thing as away. When you throw something away, it must go somewhere. ~ Annie Leonard

The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change. ~ Greta Thunberg, TEDx Stockholm, December 2018.

Only we humans make waste that nature can’t digest. ~ Charles Moore

We have the opportunity to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will to do so. ~ Sir David Attenborough

I have a dream that the people in power, as well as the media, start treating this crisis like the existential emergency it is. ~ Greta Thunberg

Now, out of sheer momentum, (we are) thrusting more and ever more roads into every little remaining patch of wilderness, which in many cases is is sheer stupidity. ~ Aldo Leopold

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts…. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. ~ Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring”

[Jake of Jake’s Bike’s on cleaning up the bike trail . . . ]

To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash. ~ Bill Nye

We children are doing this to wake the adults up. We children are doing this for you to put your differences aside and start acting as you would in a crisis. We children are doing this because we want our hopes and dreams back. ~ Greta Thunberg

I have to work with young people today so that we try and raise new generations to look after this poor old planet better than we have, before it’s too late. ~ Dr. Jane Goodall

[Bryan Van Gorp – Citizens for a Sustainable Future]

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. ~ Rachel Carson

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. ~ Gandhi

Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better. ~ Einstein

When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Our school strike has nothing to do with party politics. Because the climate and the biosphere don’t care about our politics and our empty words for a single second. ~ Greta Thunberg.

Man is still the greatest miracle and the greatest problem on this earth. ~ David Sarnoff

[Tim Schoonhoven – creating Alexandria’s Nature Trail]

The earth has music for those who listen. ~ William Shakespeare

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~ Native American Proverb

On Earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it. ~ Jules Renard

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live. ~ Sioux Prayer

Humans are very adaptable: we can still fix this. ~ Greta Thunberg, Houses of Parliament, UK, April 2019.

Save the Earth, it’s our only source of chocolate! ~ Anonymous

[Returning home after the program, we had waves for the first time on Lake H2Obert . . . ]

I don’t really like being in the center of attention. I’m not used to that. All my life I have been like the invisible girl at the back that no one sees or listens to. ~ Greta Thunberg.

Until a man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge. Remedies from chemicals will never stand in favorable comparison with the products of nature, the living cell of a plant, the final result of the rays of the sun, the mother of all life. ~ Thomas Edison

Up Next: Maybe shorts and t-shirts (well, in a couple more weeks) . . .

. . . Just EAT!

April 18

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. ~ Aesop

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~ Luciano Pavarotti

April 13

As you may know, for several years now the Boys of ’65 have been visiting small town restaurants in the area. So, yesterday Little Mayo snuck in the long drive from Burnsville on a day that wasn’t weather adverse. Yes, we are in the midst of another large snow storm today, with another due on Sunday.

[A beef commercial at Nutcrakers Cafe in downtown Starbuck (population 300). Starbuck is on the western edge of Lake Minnewaska, a little over 7 miles from Glenwood, which is on the eastern edge of Lake Minnewaska. A “commercial” is such a Minnesota established dining entree, there are statewide contests to see which restaurant makes the best. Of recent vintage, Mike Bump’s (resident in good standing of the Fat Boys Walking Club) restaurant, “Bump’s” (now run by his son-in-law) commercial in Glencoe has been rated #1 . . . ]

The many years of road trips with Greg (Mayo), Brad, & me, to include Professor Doctor Colonel Kiehne when he’s in town from Austin, Texas. The last couple years because of COVID and Brad’s health we have had to stick to local restaurants multiple times such as the Lure (6 times), the Alex golf club (4x), Traveller’s Inn, and Casa Jalisco . . .

[As the name indicates, the Nutcracker Cafe was all Christmasy (even a decorated tree in the women’s restroom). It had an extensive menu, but Mayo and I opted for the special beef commercial. Some would say there’s a fine line between fine dining and pigging out (made worse by getting a couple of caramel rolls to go)! We had a nice visit among ourselves, and with the powers that be in the cafe whose knowledge we sought regarding other similar eating places in the greater Alexandria metropolitan statistical area. We have 5 or 6 future destinations lined up. We began the day with coffee and coffee cake with friends, then this lunch, then our usual Wednesday night fine dining experience with a group of 14 at the Lure. As dear old mom always used to say,”EAT! EAT! EAT!”]

I’d much rather hang out in a cafe. That’s where things are really happening. ~ Joe Sacco

I don’t want to be famous. I like to be able to sit in a cafe and watch the world go by and observe people. ~ Sophia Myles

[Mayo practicing the Norwegian two-step . . . ]

[Bradley scouring the Nutcracker’s extensive menu. Hey, we always opt for the burger or the special . . . ]

We can get carried away with our heads in books, and although there’s so much to be learned from that, I think sitting in a cafe and speaking with someone – whatever it is, their mannerisms, their choices, are just as valuable as any class you can go to. ~ Rose McIver

[Bradley, as is his wont, opted for the burger and onion rings . . . ]

And I’d like a pint of hot sauce. ~ Bradley

Strangely enough, the first character in Fried Green Tomatoes was the cafe, and the town. I think a place can be as much a character in a novel as the people. ~ Fannie Flagg

[There were inquiries as to how three old men were able to take photographs of the women’s restroom. Well, the door was open . . . ]

[The cafe had an adjoining banquet room as well – come help decorate the tree . . . ]

[Of course the main reason we go to these small town restaurants is that we’re less likely to be recognized and reported to the local constabulary . . . ]

If I don’t feel like writing on a certain day, I just go to the cafe and hang around. ~ Elizabeth Berg

I saw the Nutcracker to be a dummy as I thought of its mouth moving like a nutcracker – and also find them pretty scary as they almost have a life of their own. ~ Matthew Bourne

Sometimes me think, ‘What is Friend?’ and then me say, ‘Friend is someone to share the last cookie with.’ ~ Cookie Monster

[That evening was the usual gathering for fine dining at the Lure. This was the only photo taken at that event. For further explanation send $1.23 and a self addressed envelope to Merkel Press, c/o whoever opens the request . . . ]

[Lest you forgot, the fine dining group on a previous occasion . . . ]

April 14

A DATE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY: On this date – April 14, 2022 – thousands of Minnesotans permanently moved to Florida. As a result of this vast internal migration, however, Florida subsequently sank into the ocean under accumulated weight of the new arrivees . . .

Blossom by blossom the spring begins. ~ Algernon Charles Swinburne

Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again. ~ Gustav Mahler

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks ‘Go.’ ~ Christopher Morley

[It’s a Thursday night. That means Tuesday Night Club must be playing at the Garden Bar . . . ]

[Instruments stand ready to obey the commands of their respective musicians . . . ]

[This is the Super’s – the Schatzki burger, various stuff with 42 pounds of ground beef . . . ]

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives. ~ Oscar Wilde

[This is mine – the New Yorker, pastrami and stuff on a baguette . . . ]

[The Dreamsical cake . . . ]

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. ~ Ernestine Ulmer

[Terry Kennedy – guitar; Jim Faber – bass & voice; Bill Riggs – trumpet; as a group, Tuesday Night Club. On this night, Al Lieffort – mandolin & voice, decided not to make his commute from Minneapolis because of the ongoing daily blizzard. The tip jar, in its luminescent orange color, adds to the overall ambience . . . ]

Feed the body food and drink, it will survive today. Feed the soul art and music, it will live forever. ~ Julie Andrews

 I’m in an area where I want to make music that I’m thrilled with, but, you know, I do have to worry about putting food on the table. I’m in that position where I cannot always be gauging what things might become. I have to look ahead, because I’m cautious. ~ Jakob Dylan

Solitary pleasures will always exist, but for most human beings, the most pleasurable activities almost always involve sharing something: music, food, liquor, drugs, gossip, drama, beds. ~ David Graeber

We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or be satisfied with food … or to be delighted with music or to drink wine. ~ John Calvin

[Terry, a.k.a. Dr. Kennedy, is a retired orthopedic surgeon. Orthopedic surgeons must have good hands to perform their work. Terry subsequently put his good hands to work building guitars, an example of which is in this photo . . . ]

 If music is the food of love, play on. ~ William Shakespeare

[Bill, a.k.a. “They call me Mr. Riggs”, is a retired history teacher. He has been playing the trumpet longer than Louis Armstrong . . . ]

Food – like art, like music – brings people together, it’s true. It begins, though, with a private experience, a single person stirred, moved, and wanting company in that altered stated. So we say, “You have to taste this.” We say, “Please, take a bite. ~ Jessica Fechtor

Jazz is my comfort music, like comfort food. ~ Molly Ringwald

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water. ~ Ray Charles

[Jim, a.k.a. Mr. Bass Man, Alexandria high school class of ’64 making him the kid in the group, unless Al is there . . . ]

My best hostess tip is to have good food and really good music! ~ Jennifer Aniston

There’s sure no passion in the human soul, But finds its food in music. ~ George Lillo

It is the part of a wise man, I say, to refresh and restore himself in moderation with pleasant food and drink, with scents, with the beauty of green plants, with decoration, music, sports, the theater, and other things of this kind, which anyone can use without injury to another. ~ Baruch Spinoza

Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist. ~ G.K. Chesterton

The game is an analogy for life: there are not enough chairs or good times to go around, not enough food, not enough joy, nor beds nor jobs nor laughs nor friends nor smiles nor money nor clean air to breathe … and yet the music goes on. ~ Steve Toltz

I love music more than food!!!!!!!!!! ~ August Wilson

April 16

[The day before Easter. On Easter, it actually snowed all day . . . ]

[Saturday mornings for as long as I can remember are doughnut pick up days at the bakery. We have had extraordinarily bad weather for every pick up day this year . . . ]

Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer. ~ Anita Krizzan

[That afternoon Josie was back at the winery . . . ]

[Josie is just wrapping up her first year of medical school at the ‘U’. She hopes to someday perform at the winery for us as Dr. Nelson . . . ]

Children must receive music instruction as naturally as food, with as much pleasure as they derive from a ball game, and this must happen from the beginning of their lives. ~ Leonard Bernstein

Qualities you need to get through medical school and residency: Discipline. Patience. Perseverance. A willingness to forgo sleep. A penchant for sadomasochism. Ability to weather crises of faith and self-confidence. Accept exhaustion as fact of life. Addiction to caffeine a definite plus. Unfailing optimism that the end is in sight. ~ Khaled Hosseini

A Harvard Medical School study has determined that rectal thermometers are still the best way to tell a baby’s temperature. Plus, it really teaches the baby who’s boss. ~ Tina Fey

You could be a corrupt doctor, but at least you have to go to the medical school first. Right? ~ David Fahrenthold

When I went for my medical school interview, I had an old paperback of ‘Henderson the Rain King’ in the pocket of my coat. ~ Ethan Canin (Editor’s note: I read “Henderson the Rain King”, Saul Bellow wrote it (1959).)

I really put the medical school thing on hold and really chased after my football dream. And I guess I’m still chasing. I’m eight years in the NFL, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am. ~ Kirk Cousins

As my mentor in Medical School, Dr William Strong taught me: Never wear a white coat; it separates you from a fellow human being. I never have from that day on. You are your patients guide, counselor, and defender, not their ruler and dictator. ~ Steven Gundry

All of the details that most of us memorize in medical school – you don’t have to learn those things. They’re going to be in your computer. ~ Leroy Hood

Instead of writing thrillers to pay for my train bills, I was actually now going to medical school in order to have something to write about. ~ Michael Crichton

Loves music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless. ~ Alice Walker

No one teaches you how to think about money in medical school or residency. Yet, from the moment you start practicing, you must think about it. You must consider what is covered for a patient and what is not. ~ Atul Gawande

[The Josie “in” crowd . . . ]

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch. ~ Orson Welles

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. ~ Julia Child

Life is a combination of magic and pasta. ~ Federico Fellini 

[A Josie original, one that she will put on an upcoming CD when she finds the time in her rigorous academic schedule . . . ]

I’ve long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime associates, food, for me, has always been an adventure. ~ Anthony Bourdaine

Tell me what to eat, and I will tell you what you are. ~ Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~ Jim Davis

Up Next: As they say around these parts, it all depends on the weather . . .

* Not the eye glasses, the seasons . . .

April 7

Indoors or out, no one relaxes; In March, that month of wind and taxes; The wind will presently disappear; The taxes last us all the year. ~ Ogden Nash

ONCE UPON A TIME, in the days of yore before COVID and kitties, the Super and I would inflict ourselves upon friends and relatives in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California for the last two weeks of March and the first week of April. It’s not that I want to escape winter – I think it’s the most beautiful season of the year – but for these three weeks local climate goes through “the change.” We leave the cold, dank, dirty snow, ice-covered lakes after the winter sports state tournaments and often returned to green grass and open water. It was the perfect segue. For the last three years, however, we have had to remain at home. So, what happens here . . .

The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for nature to follow. Now we just set the clocks an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase. ~ E. B. White

In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours. ~ Mark Twain

March 6

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. ~ Terry Pratchett

[The Super got tired of my complaining about my aged smart phone’s inability to take good pictures, so she bought me a new one. There are times when I want to take photos absent the inconvenience of schlepping along the real camera. Here are my first photos with the new phone of the babies rising to great heights in the house . . . ]

A cat will do what it wants when it wants, and there’s not a thing you can do about it. ~ Frank Perkins

March 9

In those days, though, the spring always came finally but it was frightening that it had nearly failed. ~ Ernest Hemingway

[Again with the new phone camera of the Wednesday Night Fine Dining group at The Lure . . . ]

[This group has been know to, on occasion, have a good time. Karin and Dave, on the left, had recently returned from their two-month getaway to Palm Desert . . . ]

[The rest of us stayed all winter to make sure the snow had company . . . ]

March 13

The expression “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” actually isn’t usually true for human beings. It is for bacteria, however. ~  Michael Lewis

[We hosted the non-fiction book club. No photos were taken due to the large number of members in the witness protection program . . . ]

March 17, St. Paddy’s Day

Early spring is the time for vigorous change, a preparation for the heat-driven oppression that is to come. ~ Henry Rollins

[Senior College – Global Labor Markers w/ Alfred Marcus, U of M . . . ]

Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but if your name is Eisenhower, you’ve got to wear something green to show it. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

[After college it was off to Longtrees Woodfire Grill for a St. Patrick’s Day special of corned beef and cabbage . . . of course! What we didn’t know was an old family friend, Jason Hines, had been back in Alex for two years and was working at Longtrees . . . ]

March 20

You can not look at a sleeping cat and feel tense. ~ Jane Pauley

March 21

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ ~ Robin Williams

Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age? ~ Erich Fromm

[It was Community Education movie night at the Grand Arbor theater . . . ]

[It was my night to host – my movie: “The Biggest Little Farm” . . . ]

[The usual masses have gathered, running the range of 25-30 people . . . ]

[After each movie, those who desire go across the hall for a discussion of the movie . . . ]

[After the discussion, we put all the chairs back in place and take a head count of those going to dinner . . . ]

[I think we had seven diners on this night – it can range up to 14 -16 . . . ]

[Autumn, in the background, is the Longtrees Woodfire Grill manager and endures our group showing up every other Monday . . . ]

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. ~ Winston Churchill

March 22, Jami’s Birthday

A man has every season while a woman only has the right to spring. ~ Jane Fonda

The older you get the better you get, unless you are a banana. ~ Betty White

I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don’t have to respect anybody. ~ George Burns

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. ~ Ogden Nash

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age. ~ Robert Frost

Yes, I deserve a spring – I owe nobody nothing. ~ Virginia Woolf

Eventually you reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. ~ Will Rogers

Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research. ~ Carl G. Jung

Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes. ~ Carl Friedrich Gauss

As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two. ~ Sir Norman Wisdom

[Apres birthday party: Senior College – Forces Driving Inflation in the COVID Era w/ Kelly Hughes, Alexandria College . . . ]

[For a short while it actually appeared as if spring was going to make an appearance . . . ]

March 23

Nouvelle cuisine, roughly translated, means: I can’t believe I paid $96 and I’m still hungry. ~ Mike Kalin

[Another Wednesday night of fine dining at The Lure overlooking still solidly frozen Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]

In a restaurant, choose a table near a waiter. ~ Jewish Proverb

[Discussion of things of world import has begun . . . ]

The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going. ~ George Carlin (George, it’s really . . . )

It’s easier to be faithful to a restaurant than it is to a woman. ~ Federico Fellini

March 24

When you wait for a server in a restaurant, doesn’t that make you the waiter? ~ Unknown

[And once again Thursday Night Club performed at the Garden Bar on a Tuesday . . . ]

There are advantages to being a star, though. You can always get a table in a full restaurant. ~ Ingrid Bergman

Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music, and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays. ~ Henry Youngman

[At the next table, Paulette and Ralph were celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversay . . . ]

Never look directly at the sun, instead look at the sunflower. ~ Vera Nazarian

[Paulette is known as Alexandria’s storyteller. Ralph fits into that somewhere . . . ]

March 25

Fear not, get your shot. ~  Abhijit Naskar

[The Super and I got our second booster vaccines. I wore a t-shirt that I thought would be the viral equivalent of brother Chris’s John Prine shirt below . . . ]

I don’t like to see Christmas trees torn down. ~ John Prine

When vaccination programs are successful to the point where the disease is unfamiliar to physicians and public alike, then concerns can arise with real or perceived side effects of a vaccine that affect a very small minority of those vaccinated. Such concerns lead to fewer children being vaccinated and to increasing occurrence of the disease. ~  Peter Parham

Who are you going to believe? Leading authorities on medical science, or 800 memes on your cousin’s Facebook page? ~ Samantha Bee

If only there was a vaccine to protect against breast cancer, we’d be lining up – wouldn’t we? ~ Judy Blume

If everything is God’s will, then so is the invention of the vaccine, just like the seatbelt. ~ Els Borst

There is no vaccine against stupidity. ~ Albert Einstein

A classical Game Theory case. People are not taking vaccines in the hope that everyone else would be vaccinated and they would be safe. ~  Vineet Raj Kapoor

[Feeling super safe with my Tweetie Bird bandage . . . ]

March 26

The public is like a piano. You just have to know what keys to poke. ~ Al Capp

[Elsa Lee, fortunately for us, is a regular entertainer at the winery. These photos were my first headshots with the new phone camera . . . ]

There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. ~ Johann Sebastian Bach

Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it. ~ Tom Lehrer

In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever. ~  Aristophanes

I drink to make other people more interesting. ~ Ernest Hemmingway

March 27

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. ~ James Herriot

Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer. ~ Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

[The third concert of the Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra’s season . . . ]

Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. ~ Jean Sibelius

The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between. ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

At a certain place in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, one might feel that he is floating above the earth in a starry dome. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

People ordinarily don’t think of their orchestras as important as we’d like them to be. People don’t care about their friends and neighbors who sit down to commit excellence three or four times a year, but they will go see the tall bald guy with three names from television. ~ David Ogden Stiers

I can’t stand going out to one more dinner with some Mrs. So-and-So who might leave a million dollars to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when she dies. ~ Daniel Barenboim

Good conductors know when to let an orchestra lead itself. Ninety percent of what a conductor does comes in the rehearsal – the vision, the structure, the architecture. ~ Joshua Bell

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. ~ Max Lucado

March 28

I glanced out the window at the signs of spring. The sky was almost blue, the trees were almost budding, the sun was almost bright. ~ Millard Kaufman

[When a Canada Geese couple are meandering the back yard and neither the Super nor Galahad pay them no mind, spring must be in the air . . . ]

A goose flies by a chart which the Royal Geographical Society could not mend. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

[Said geese couple . . . ]

March 30

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~ Henry Van Dyke

It is amazing how quickly the kids learn to drive a car, yet are unable to understand the lawn mower, snowblower and vacuum cleaner. ~ Ben Berger

I have a cousin Ernie who buys stuff. He’s got a big snowblower that’s actually the biggest snowblower you can buy, with a remote control, so he doesn’t even have to go outside. He’s got the microwave and a satellite dish, it’s all in one. He cooks and watches at the same time. ~ Louie Anderson

I used to be Snow White, but I drifted. ~ Mae West

Schizophrenia beats dining alone. ~ Oscar Levant

[Why, yes, another Wednesday night dining adventure at The Lure . . . ]

Too many people just eat to consume calories. Try dining for a change. ~ John Walters

March 31

Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin

[Senior College – The Favorable Economics of Solving the Climate Challenge w/ Jay Coggins, U of M . . . ]

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. ~ H. G. Wells

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. ~ Aristotle

Oh stop it, you’re having an affair with your college professor, that jerk that teaches that incredible crap course, Contemporary Crisis in Western Man... ~ Alvy Singer (Woody Allen)

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. ~ Ezra Pound

35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. If another country were doing this to our children, we’d be at war. ~ Jeff Bridges

[A tradition in which the Super and I have participated in for some time . . . ]

There are genuinely sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry. ~ Ed Asner

[In the Common Area of the high school, which we noted at the time is now eight years old. Begin the fund raising now for the next one?]

Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world. ~ Norman Borlaug

A hungry man can’t see right or wrong. He just sees food. ~ Pearl S. Buck

[The students also displayed their art work . . . ]

Hungry people cannot be good at learning or producing anything, except perhaps violence. ~ Pearl Bailey

I am grateful for each and every food bank that helps families in need. No one should ever go hungry. ~ Marlee Matlin

[And played with the Rainbow Strings . . . ]

If you desire peace, cultivate justice, but at the same time cultivate the fields to produce more bread; otherwise there will be no peace. ~ Norman Borlaug

April 1

This is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to! ~ Stella Kowalski

[A road trip to Stella’s in Battle Lake for an evening with Anthony Miltich . . . ]

[A fish named . . . Stella??]

In springtime, love is carried on the breeze. Watch out for flying passion or kisses whizzing by your head. ~ Emma Racine deFleur

[Pizza, pizza . . . ]

Only become a musician if there is absolutely no other way you can make a living. ~ Kirke Mechem

[Anthony . . . ]

My music is best understood by children and animals. ~ Igor Stravinsky

In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of. ~ Robert Schumann

[And the spotlight is on . . . ]

My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a producer. ~ Cole Porter

If a man whistles at you, do not respond. You are a lady, not a dog. ~ Adele

Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them. ~ Richard Strauss

[The requisite artsy-fartsy shot . . . ]

April 3

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~ Margaret Atwood

[ . . . and then it happened, all afternoon . . . ]

[Nope, no dirt smell here . . . ]

It’s not Spring Break until somebody dies! ~ Daniel Tosh

I’m not sure why I like cats so much. I mean, they’re really cute obviously. They are both wild and domestic at the same time. ~ Michael Showalter

My girlfriend asked me how long I was going to be gone on this tour. I said, “the whole time”. ~ Steven Wright

I was once walking through the forest alone. A tree fell right in front of me, and I didn’t hear a thing. ~ Steven Wright

. . . the following morning

Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. ~ Lewis Grizzard

I’m not into working out. My philosophy is no pain, no pain. ~ George Carlin

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? ~ George Carlin

I like to reminisce with people I don’t know. ~ Steven Wright

Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway. ~ Elsa from Frozen

‘Snow in April is abominable,’ said Anne. ‘Like a slap in the face when you expected a kiss.’ ~ L.M. Montgomery

Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. ~ Jean Webster

Up Next: Depends on whether or not the snow ever leaves?

March 29

The Fat Boys Walking Club lost a founding member last week. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Paul “Rock” Fieldhammer. Rock, for some unknown reason, was a follower of this blog. So I hope to do him well, we will miss him. Walking and hiking quotes will be featured throughout, just because. Before the Y was built, the Fat Boys did our winter walking in the mall. Paul arrived one day, and for several thereafter, wearing a backpack. In his backpack, he carried a rock. He said it was in preparation for his winter hiking in Arizona. At that moment he obtained the appellation of “Rock,” bestowed upon him by the club’s giver of nicknames, Bob “Weakie” Annen.. . .

Cannot read your blog any more without getting hungry.  So much for Annen’s request for food pix.  ~  The Fieldhammers (lived in Slovakia for three months a few years ago)

Hiking—much like drinking—is something that sounds more fun to the uninitiated than it actually is. ~ Mindy McGinnis

Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. ~ Demetri Martin

Paul Fieldhammer

Published March 28, 2022 03:01 PM (Echo Press)

Feb. 15, 1943 – March 24, 2022

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Paul Fieldhammer, 79, Alexandria, Minn., died Thursday, March 24, in Phoenix. A private family memorial service will be at a later date. Arrangements by Anderson Funeral Home and Crematory in Alexandria. (The photo above is from the Anderson Funeral Home site.)

Rock was a proud native of Sacred Heart who matriculated to Augsburg College (became University in 2017), where his subsequent contributions and service to the university led the Fat Boys to tease that several campus buildings must be named in his honor. He was tech support to we other members of the club, and also in that capacity he donated much time and energy to Someplace Safe in Alexandria and to a similar organization while wintering in Arizona. In recent years, he and Pris spent much of their time trying to keep up with grandson Henry . . .

Some people only get called by their nicknames. Usually, it sounds weird to even say their real name. ~ Kishore

[Legends in song and story, this photo was taken April 22, 2013 at the Y. “Weakie” (in the middle) named the others, l-r, “Coach”,” Bumpster”, “Rock”, “Cub (Reporter)”, “Tenor” . . . ]

There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate. ~ Linda Grayson

[Photo taken June 19, 2021 in the garage of Pris and Rock’s new house on Lake Geneva. The Super is holding a new computer that Rock built for her (since deeded to me . . . ]

Remember: Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the light. ~ Roberta Flack

[With Pris and Paul at the Alexandria Golf Club (AGC) on August 11, 2010 for the Senior Men’s League Annual Steak Fry and Quilting Bee . . . ]

I was walking down the street wearing glasses when the prescription ran out. ~ Steven Wright

[The Fieldhammers arriving for yet another exciting event at the AGC on June 29, 2011 . . . ]

Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. ~ Steven Wright

[I captured Rock and his granddaughter while participating in the Homecoming Parade on September 24, 2011 . . . ]

Walking is magic. Can’t recommend it highly enough. I read that Plato and Aristotle did much of their brilliant thinking together while ambulating. The movement, the meditation, the health of the blood pumping, and the rhythm of footsteps… this is a primal way to connect with one’s deeper self. ~ Paul Cole

[Pris, Beryl, and the Super on a Moby Obie pontoon ride on September 30, 2012 . . . ]

Friendship is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warm feeling inside. ~ Unknown

[Rather than on Rock, the camera opted to focus on the background trees . . . ]

Friends are people who know you really well and like you anyway. ~ Greg Tamblyn

[Photo dated May 22, 2013 in the Alexandria Golf Club clubhouse . . . ]

Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasin, you can’t imagine the smell. ~ Robert Byrne

[Photo dated July 4, 2013 in the Fieldhammer’s yard on beautiful Lake Darling where invited guests could sit, imbibe, and snack with an unobstructed view of the Arrowwood fireworks display . . . ]

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. ~ Bernard Meltzer

[The numerous beyond the pale mutterings of his fellow walkers often led Rock to exclaim, “I can’t believe you guys!” 🙂 ]

Walking is great, I guess. ~ Brianna Wu

Jean Shrimpton was the most beautiful of all the models I have known. To walk down the King’s Road, Chelsea, with Shrimpton was like walking through the rye. Strong men just keeled over right and left as she strode up the street. ~ Mary Quant (Well, this is about walking . . . )

[Past and current members of the Senior Men’s league (with spouses) engage in fine dining every Wednesday night at the golf club. On this date, June 17, 2020, we were in Mulligan’s on the lower level of the clubhouse. The Super does not recall the green wraps on her wrists . . . ]

I’m a walker. I enjoy walking, which I think psychologically expresses my feelings of wanting liberation without exerting myself too much. ~ Janeane Garofalo

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

[The Wednesday night fine dining group in the clubhouse on May 5, 2021 . . . ]

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you’re a human being walking the earth, you’re weird, you’re strange, you’re psychologically challenged. ~ Philip Seymour Hoffman

Hiking’s not for everyone. Notice the wilderness is mostly empty. ~ Sonja Yoerg

[My last photo of Rock on September 29, 2021 with the Wednesday night fine dining group at the golf club. He and Pris would soon be off to their winter home in Arizona.]

Regret: That a much-discussed walker race between “Rock” and “Weakie” never came to fruition.

We’ll end with a couple of walking quotes from Hippocrates (like Rock, past owner of Gibbco Scientific, Inc., in the medical supply business):

Walking is man’s best medicine. ~ Hippocrates

If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk. ~ Hippocrates

Addendum:

Recently discovered in the archives, Rock had to “raise” his yard back in August 2011 when beautiful Lake Darling got a little frisky and was rising over its banks . . .

Addendum 2:

More photos unearthed in the archives on August 10, 2023

[Paul in the background at the Y on June 4, 2010, with our old neighbor Dan Nelson in the foreground . . . ]

[Dining at the golf club on September 28, 2011 . . . ]

Production of this document has been plagued by intermittent and ongoing technical difficulties with our social media devices . . .

March 11

. . . for the Alexandria senior boys basketball players on their home court.

[Unfortunately, Kristen Hoskins (8th from the right), the starting point guard, left the team for personal reasons before the end of the season. It’s a big loss for a team hoping to make a long run in the tournament . . . ]

[Is Hadley Thul (11) really palming that basketball?]

It’s going to be interesting to watch presidential elections in around 2040, when voters can dig up candidates’ teenage angst pics and posts from old social media and discussion forum archives. ~ Mikko Hypponen

Americans invented adolescence. It is not a natural phenomenon. Adolescence is a social construct, created by an urban-industrial society that keeps its young at home far past puberty.  ~ Sarah Beth Durst

If a society is to preserve stability and a degree of continuity, it must learn how to keep its adolescents from imposing their tastes, values, and fantasies on everyday life. ~ Eric Hoffer

Creativity is the catalyst to the future. ~ Marie Frohoff

[Sophomore Grayson Grove (33) wins another opening tip-off . . . ]

The most important thing we learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school. ~ Haruki Murakami

We all learn by experience but some of us have to go to summer school. ~ Peter De Vries

There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done: school and prison. ~ William Glasser

In 300 BC Euclid invented geometry, and the grade F. ~ Unknown

School is learning things you don’t want to know, surrounded by people you wish you didn’t know, while working toward a future you don’t know will ever come. ~ Dave Kellett

Show me the man who enjoyed his school days and I will show you a bully and a bore. ~ Robert Morley

[Snagged by senior Erik Hedstrom (22) . . . ]

[Senior guard Carter Steffensmeier (0) on offense . . . ]

[And then on defense . . . ]

[And being fed by Hedstrom after a rebound . . . ]

[And hydrating on the bench during a time out . . . ]

[The Cards had jumped to an early lead. Then joie de vivre sets in and they start firing up 3’s from all over the place. We are not a particularly good 3-point shooting team so then the offense always stalls . . . ]

[Carter bringing the ball up court as the 1st half ends . . . ]

[Warming up for the 2nd half . . . ]

[The crowd is getting restless . . . ]

[It was a totally unremarkable 1st half, high energy, no scoring . . . ]

[As the 2nd half was starting I was admonishing from my front row seat, “Get the ball inside.” We have a talented 6’8″ center who had 2 points in the 1st half . . . ]

[It worked, getting the ball inside to our big ‘uns, Grove and Hedstrom . . . ]

[But the Spartans, a better 3-point shooting team than we, began hitting from outside . . . ]

[Grayson gets fouled a lot – fortunately, he’s a good free throw shooter . . . ]

[Blasts from the past: The fellow in the Alaska cap and black shirt is Chuck Betterman (Alex class of ’63), who the Fat Boys see every morning at the Y. His granddaugher, Karly, was one of my all-timers, playing in the 2013 era. Sitting in front of Chuck is Ella Grove, a star player for Alex who graduated two years ago. Yup, the older sister of Grayson . . . ]

[I shot a ball into the air, it fell to earth I know not where . . . ]

[Senior Zach Gundberg (32) has helped pick up the slack from the loss of Kristen . . . ]

I really am a good person. ~ Denny Hecker

[A comfortable lead, but couldn’t quite bury the pesky Spartans . . . ]

[The Cards were great from the free throw line down the stretch . . . ]

[Here senior Peter Sansted (12) . . . ]

[Although Grayson missed his meaningless last two, the Cards finished 13 – 16 from the charity stripe . . . ]

[And now on to the section championship game against St. Cloud Tech. A win then will send the Cards to their 2nd consecutive state tournament . . . ]

[You’re absolutely right, Ella. After just two points in the first half, Grayson finished with 17 . . . ]

No school without spectacular eccentrics and crazy hearts is worth attending. ~ Saul Bellow

But if there’s a school bus, there needs to be a school! ~ Fred Rogers

Up Next: The next game?

March 5

50 YEARS OF TITLE IX

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. ~ Title IX

I do not read this as requiring integration of dormitories between the sexes, nor do I feel it mandates the desegregation of football fields. What we are trying to do is provide equal access for women and men students to the educational process and the extracurricular activities in a school. ~ Birch Bayh

[This year’s senior class (school photo): Carlie Wolf (41), Lilly Thul (35), and Tessa McGrane (5)]

Well, was there not a need to have classes for disadvantaged girls? Couldn’t you have classes and include both boys and girls? ~ Edith Green

Let us not deceive ourselves. Our educational institutions have proven to be no bastions of democracy. ~ Edith Green

I don’t know when I have ever been so pleased, because I had worked so long and it had been such a tough battle. ~ Edith Green

It was perfectly legal to discriminate in any education program against girls or women. ~ Edith Green

[Your ’21-22 Alexandria Cardinals, with Papa Hasz providing 6’5″ perspective from his position on the far upper left . . . ]

[Introduction of starters: Freshman MaCee Linow (21) . . . ]

[Freshman Allie Haabala (33) . . . ]

A girl just can’t do those things and still be a lady. ~ Unknown Sportswriter

[Freshman Hadley Thul (11) . . . ]

[Freshman Chloe Scholl (15), coming up the player aisle . . . ]

[And senior Lilly Thul (35), about to join the team from afar . . . ]

Thanks to the efforts of many women who refused to quit and who stood up for their daughters and mine, the door to opportunity was opened in 1972 for both boys and girls to escape gender stereotypes and to explore areas of interest not available in the past. ~ RuthAnn Lobo

[Hadley prepares for . . . ]

[And wins another center jump . . . ]

First of all, I think my involvement in Title IX is probably the most important contribution I made to the governmental process. ~ Birch Bayh

When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Time flies when you are having fun. ~ Albert Einstein

[And Allie controls the tip . . . ]

[Hadley shooting free throws . . . ]

Rep. Edith Louise Starrett Green (D-OR), a former teacher, birthed Title IX in 1971-1972 as chair of the Subcommittee on Education of the House Education and Labor Committee, giving girls and women equal opportunities in education. ~ Sherry Boschert (and now you know Edith Green)

[Senior Tessa McGrane (5) in hot pursuit of the roundball. The Amazing Mr. Ripley, camera always at the ready, in the background . . . ]

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game. ~ Michael Jordan

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting. ~ George Orwell

[The game within the game: DL’s point guard junior Abby Larson (1) versus Allie, the Cardinal point guard . . . ]

[Hadley gets fouled a lot and shoots a lot of free throws. When she gets really good at it, she’ll rack up a lot of points . . . ]

I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok. ~ Shaquille O’Neal

[MaCee, with Mr. Ripley in the background again. He’s able to get good photos because he can get down on the floor and still get up again . . . ]

[Where Hadley’s length is a factor – late in the game she picked off an inbounds pass after a Cardinal score and layed it in . . . ]

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. ~ Mike Singletary

[Sooooo lose . . . ]

The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. ~ James Naismith

[MaCee is our long rane bomber – she made 7 3’s in one game, 8 in another . . . ]

[Chloe, our 5’8″ power forward, shooting . . . ]

[I believe this was a made 3-pointer from the corner by Kaia Emter (see her further down) . . . ]

[Sophomore Ellie Heydt (3), our designated defensive rabble rouser . . . ]

[Lilly shooting a freebie . . . ]

[The perspective from my box seat . . . ]

[The Larson-Haabala match up again . . . ]

[Allie shooting . . . ]

[Allie on Ms. Larson . . . ]

I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession. ~ John Wooden

[With about 17 seconds left in the game, Hadley got free at the top of the key, took her only 3-point attempt in the game, and made it! The fans thought that sealed the win for the Cards. With 6 seconds left, sophomore Helena Daggett (3) hit a 3 to tie the game and send it into overtime . . . ]

[And the jump to start the 1st overtime . . . ]

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. ~ John Wooden

Young people need models, not critics. ~ John Wooden

[The match-up between Allie and Ms. Larson continued all game. Both played well . . . ]

[Allie shooting again . . . ]

[Chloe at the line . . . ]

[If MaCee is our long range bomber, sophomore Kaia Emter (25) is our gunner. Kaia at one point hit three 3’s in a row with her very quick release . . . ]

[And the jump to start the 2nd overtime . . . ]

[I employ] two offenses: the GMA, or “general milling around,” and the Daylight Offense, as in “The first guy who sees daylight after he crosses mid-court shoots.” ~ Abe Lemons

One day of practice is like one day of clean living; it doesn’t do you any good. ~ Abe Lemons

I don’t have any tricky plays, I’d rather have tricky players. ~ Abe Lemons

[The boys team had a game at Fergus Falls earlier in the afternoon. They won to tie for the conference title. Then they dropped by as fan support for the girls. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out . . . ]

[I admittedly thought some time ago the season would end they way it did. The Cards had many games this season when they could not make free throws down the stretch. It happened again in this game when they could have won in regulation and the 1st overtime from the charity stripe. The Cards beat Detroit Lakes 56-21 during the regular, so this was quite unexpected. The Lakers are also young, but a year or two older and taller than the Cards and made the adjustment from the 1st game. They did a box-and-one on Hadley, the Cards leading scorer, so she was constantly double-teamed as teams often did the last half of the season. The Cards will get a year older and stronger and be back to make a run next year . . . ]

In May 1974, on a relatively slow day in the Senate, Mr. Tower [of Texas] quietly proposed changing a pending education bill to insist that Title IX rules couldn’t apply to any sports that brought in money from ticket sales. ~ Let Me Play (By Karen Blumenthal)

Up Next: Alex boys hockey team starts state tournament play this week. I think the boys basketball sections start this week as well . . .

February 15

It is more fun to talk to someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” ~ A. A. Milne

The Alexandria girls hockey team was trying to make it back to the state tournament again this year. They finished the regular season on a nice run, winning 11 of their last 14 games. They were playing the Brainerd-Little Falls Flying Warriors in the section semi-finals. They had already beaten the Flying Warriors twice this year. But, as they say, it’s hard to beat a team 3 times. Brainerd-Little Falls scored with 17 seconds left in the game, by a player who had never scored a varsity goal before, to win 4 – 3. And so it goes. So we say goodbye, and thank you, to 11 seniors, most of whom have been 4-year starters. I’ve heard we have some talent coming up – we’ll lace them up again next year . . .

Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

[The Alexandria Cardinals, lest you weren’t sure . . . ]

[Fan support from the boys basketball team . . . ]

You can sum up this sport in two words: You never know. ~ Lou Duva (boxing promoter)

[See the first photo . . . ]

[Introductions: Kylie Lattimer (11), sophomore defense (someone we will build around next year); Jordan O’Kane (1), senior goalie; MaKenna Aure (17), senior defense . . . ]

I’m so mean, I make medicine sick. ~ Muhammad Ali

[It’s easier (for me) to just look at the roster above . . . ]

I feel like I’m the best, but you’re not going to get me to say that. ~ Jerry Rice

You play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game. ~ Herm Edwards

[The opening face-off, collisions begin in the girls’ “no contact” sport with junior Ella Westlund (11) . . . ]

[The future: Sophia Korynta (22), sophomore; Julia Doherty (7), freshman; Cadence Ellingson (14), freshman; and Emma Ramstorf (10), freshman . . . ]

[A departing veteran, senior Kaci Trosvig (25) . . . ]

[Peyton Boesl (6), senior; Kennedy Ellingson (3), freshman; Lattimer; Elise Patience (18), senior . . . ]

[Autumn Blahosky (20), senior; Patience; Cadence Ellingson; and Doherty . . . ]

[Not George, Paul, John, and Ringo . . . ]

[Reflective of the entire game between two evenly matched teams . . . ]

[Korynta, as our offense moves to my end of the rink . . . ]

I’m glad I don’t play anymore. I could never learn all of those handshakes. ~ Phil Rizzuto

[Kaci circles the net . . . ]

[Like her older sister Kristin used to do . . . ]

We didn’t underestimate them. They were a lot better than we thought. ~ Bobby Robson

He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is. ~ Lou Duva (makes a doubleheader quote for Lou)

[Gonna miss the feistiness of senior Hannah Block (28), though small of stature loved to mix it up in front of the goal . . . ]

I never lost a game. I just ran out of time. ~ Michael Jordan

[Could be Aure with Ramstorf on the far side . . . ]

[A defense pairing of Riley Nyberg (21), senior, and Lattimer . . . ]

[Lauren Maras (9), with the only other junior Westlund, will return as the grizzled veterans next year . . . ]

[My final shot of the often spectacular career of MaKenna . . . ]

[We had a two goal lead, both took place right in front of me but my camera reactions have gone the way of the great auk, but then we took two penalties. The Flying Warriors rapidly scored on both to tie it up . . . ]

Sorrow is one of the vibrations that prove the fact of living. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

February 17

So now our attention turns to the roundballers. This is two nights later versus Sartell . . .

In lieu of interspersed sports quotes, I will now feature the humor of P. J. O’Rourke, who I just learned as I type this died this week. P. J. represented the other side of the political spectrum from me, but he always made me laugh. He was two months younger than me, i.e., too young to depart our little blue orb . . .

The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[The final scoreboard for the preceding Junior Varsity game . . . ]

[The first thing I noticed in both the JV and varsity games is that the Cardinals could use a healthy application of Miracle-Gro. We gave away a lot of height to the Sabres. For example, the Sabres varsity only has one player 5’6″ or shorter; the Cardinals have eight . . . ]

[The starters waiting for player introductions: Elle Heydt (3), sophomore; the remaining four are all freshmen, MaCee Linow (21), Chloe Scholl (15), Hadley Thul (11), and Allie Haabala (33) . . . ]

Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Politics is the attempt to achieve power and prestige without merit. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Never wear anything that panics the cat. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Never fight an inanimate object. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[And now back to the basketball game. The opening tip-off represents the one position where the Cardinals have an athletic, if not always a size, advantage. Hadley is a long 6’1″, a volleyball player, and I have yet to see her lose a jump ball . . . ]

When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[And she’s got it again . . . ]

To mistrust science and deny the validity of scientific method is to resign your job as a human. You’d better go look for work as a plant or wild animal. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Don’t send funny greeting cards on birthdays or at Christmas. Save them for funerals, when their cheery effect is needed. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[But the ball was deflected back into the jump circle where there was a tie up. So . . . ]

[They had to re-jump, and Hadley got it again . . . ]

The C student starts a restaurant. The A student writes restaurant reviews. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[For the first half, in my seat behind the Cardinals’ bench, got an up close and personal with our defense . . . ]

The most brilliant satire of all time was ‘A Modest Proposal’ by Jonathan Swift. You’ll notice how everything got straightened out in Ireland within days of that coming out. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Hubris is one of the great renewable resources. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[This was a big improvement over they last time these teams played less than two weeks ago. At one point then in the first half the Sabres were ahead by 23 points and went on to win by 14 . . . ]

[Second half warm-ups as I would now first hand experience with our offense . . . ]

If you are young and you drink a great deal it will spoil your health, slow your mind, make you fat – in other words, turn you into an adult. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[Of course, this team is also the future – all freshman and an 8th-grader who is part of the regular rotation. Next year it will also add another 8th-grader, Kate Hennessy on the far right who will bring a much needed 5’11” frame to the action . . . ]

[Hadley, and the team in general, has struggled from the free throw line all season – and it has been costly. They were all, especially Hadley, much better in this game . . . ]

[Maybe the Michael Jordan tongue-stick-out is they key. Hadley had a game earlier this season when she was 4 for 5 on step-back 3-point shots – that’s Steph Curry stuff. But in that same game she was 1 for 7 on free throws. Thus, I thought Sundance Kid an appropriate sobriquet for her (remember, “I shoot better when I move”?) . . . ]

[It behooves her to get really good at this – she will shoot thousands of them in the next 3 1/2 years . . . ]

[Elle also cashes in at the line. The “real” photographer catches her from the other side . . . ]

[In the middle we’ve added Kaia Emter (25), sophomore, a 3-point shooter; and Ella Steussy (1), junior, a defensive specialist . . . ]

[Allie on the free throw line – she is the point guard and will grow with the position . . . ]

[Trying to close it out on the defensive end . . . ]

Freedom is not empowerment. Empowerment is what the Serbs have in Bosnia. Anybody can grab a gun and be empowered. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

[Chloe at the free throw line. An all-around good player . . . ]

[And MaCee is the long range gunner. She made 8 3’s in the previous game, 7 in an earlier game . . . ]

[This was quite a turnaround in less than two weeks. They may not threaten further this year, but they have 3 more years to get really good . . . ]

I’ve been big ever since I was little. ~ William “The Refrigerator” Perry

Seriousness is stupidity sent to college. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Rich people don’t like to be in the military. The shoes are ugly and the uniforms itch. Rich people don’t go in much for revolution or terrorism, either. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Up Next: The 100-inch snowstorm coming this week?

February 14

In my house I’m the boss, my wife is just the decision maker. ~ Woody Allen

This was our 21st anniversary. By custom, the gift for the 21st is fire (a theme). I have no idea what that means? I do know, however, the 21st denotes that we are now eligible, as a couple, to legally drink adult beverages. So, why not. We returned to our oft used venue for such events, The Garden Bar (nee Sixth Avenue Wine & Ale). I dusted off my AGC black sweater vest (always the fashion plate) and off we went. We were greeted with a glass of champagne from Vicky, our forever server there, who wasn’t even working that night but phoned it in. Then friends Jeanne & Tom Mulder dropped in (after their Valentine’s Day repast) to enjoy the previously noted adult beverage. The symphony was actually two days previous, but who’s counting. We included it as part of an extended celebration . . .

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. ~ Socrates

[This winter has led many Alexandrians to search for places with a milder climate. Antarctica comes to mind. So, the days before our big events, we decided we’d better carb up. Homemade baguettes was a good start . . . ]

I love you more than coffee, but please don’t make me prove it. ~ Elizabeth Evans

[Carbing up the morning of the symphony. The previous Saturday morning (as discussed then) I made the doughnut run in a blizzard. This Saturday morning, the car’s external thermometer starting dropping right out of garage, dropped the entire 2 miles to the bakery, and continued dropping even more on the way home. I believe it bottomed out at 200 degrees below zero . . . ]

[Jeanne & Tom joined us at the Garden Bar for a little pre-meal wining . . . ]

Without Valentine’s Day, February would be…well, January. ~ Jim Gaffigan

[There were two specials on the evening – I opted for the mahi-mahi . . . ]

[The Super got the prime rib . . . ]

You know how people say, ‘You can’t live without love’? Well, oxygen is even more important. ~ Dr. Gregory Houser

I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~  Rita Rudner

[Before I doze off, I would like to report that we ran into some folks we generally only see at the golf club – you know, in summer. At the table behind me is Karlie. She does her level best to see that the Wednesday night fine dining group is reliably served – whether or not we deserve it. And we were happy to see Ed and Suzie Buttweiler, before they belatedly head to Florida now that Ed is healthy enough to do so . . . ]

My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem. But they don’t really know me. ~ Garry Shandling

Two days previous . . .

‘Twas another daunting winter evening for the Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra performance of the Sound of the Cinema. I had emailed in advance as to whether the school would provide golf cart rides from the parking lot to the building for those of us who have ambulatory issues when it comes to traversing ice. We had to, of course, use our winter penguin walk (where both feet are continually on the ground) to obtain access. We were quite amazed that in spite of all we had a two-thirds house . . . ]

The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing—and then marry him. ~  Cher

An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her. ~ Agatha Christie

As a man in a relationship, you have a choice: You can be right or you can be happy. ~ Ralphie May

[An hour before each performance Brad Lambrecht entertains the early arrivers with his Maestro’s Notes, a history and explanation of the music to be performed . . . ]

The secret to a long marriage is to stay gone. ~ Dolly Parton

[Can you read this? Thank a teacher . . . ]

Love thy neighbor — and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier. ~ Mae West

A girl can wait for the right man to come along, but in the meantime that doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones. ~ Cher

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. ~ Charles M. Schulz

[Soprano Nicole Lambrecht (yes, they are related) beautifully sang The Lord of the Rings . . . ]

[Tenor Nicholas Swanson received a standing ovation for his performance of Bring Him Home from Les Miserables . . . ]

Unless you want to forget your marriage, it’s a good idea to remember your anniversary. ~ Melanie White

For Marriage to Be a Success, Every Woman and Every Man Should Have Her and His Own Bathroom. The End. ~ Catherine Zeta-Jones

Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed. ~ Albert Einstein

Up Next: High school tournaments have begun . . .

February 5

The censors in academia and statehouses have much in common: a deep fear that their own ideas and values cannot survive exposure to contrary views, and the conviction that the discomfort difference produces in intolerable – even traumatic. ~ William Falk

The Cardinal girls and boys played the final two games in the 2022 Breakdown Winter Lakes Classic. Hence, the “Fun With Dick & Jane” title. However, neither team had a “Dick” or “Jane,” names from a distant, more idyllic past . . .

Jane

[The Cardinals played the Marshall Tigers in both games. Here’s the tipoff of the girls game (obviously). Freshman Hadley Thul (11) jumped for the Cards, aided and abetted by fellow freshmen Allie Haabala (33) and Chloe Scholl (15). The Cards start four freshmen, with MaCee Linow (21), against a ranked Marshall team that is undefeated in its conference . . . ]

[Aaaah, the good ole days when I actually could play the Cub Reporter, when there were three blog postings a week instead of three a month. I’m getting rusty (not that one would notice a difference from the unrusted one) . . . ]

[The teams gather for the above referenced opening tap . . . ]

[Hadley, as a lanky 6’1″, has won all her tipoffs, as I recall. In this game she was up against a 6’2″ player and three 6-footers giving the Tigers a distinct size advantage . . . ]

Walt Disney World is nearly 30,000 acres or 48 square miles. That is more than 80 times the size of Monaco. Grace Kelly would have been queen of a larger and wealthier kingdom if she’d married Uncle Walt instead of Prince Rainier. ~ Eve Zibart

[A Tiger launched a shot – I can’t remember if it went in . . . ]

[Our lone senior starter, Tessa McGrane (5), kept in eye on Brianna Simpson (23), one of the Tigers’ leading scorers . . . ]

[Looks like the beginnings of a pile up in Aisle 3 . . . ]

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic. ~ Dan Rather

[Cardinal coach Wendy Kohler is pointing for her team to go the other direction . . . ]

[Chloe Scholl shooting a free throw, though camera thought it important for only the referee to be in focus . . . ]

[Hadley inbounds in front of the Cardinal logo background . . . ]

[The Cards played a terrific first half . . . ]

[The shoot around before the start of the 2nd half . . . ]

[Hadley working on her 3-pointer from the corner . . . ]

Women deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of twenty eight and forty. ~ James Thurber

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. ~ Larry Lorenzoni

It takes a long time to grow young. ~ Pablo Picasso

[The Cards built the lead to 43 – 30 with 8 minutes left in the game . . . ]

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers. ~ Dave Barry

Never underestimate the therapeutic power of driving and listening to very loud music. ~ Unknown

[And then the roof caved in! The Cards did not score another point . . . ]

[Even free throws, which have been a team bug-a-boo all season, weren’t falling . . . ]

[The Tigers ended the game on a 25 – 0 run, something I’m sure Coach Kohler has never endured in her career . . . ]

Sometimes all you need is a great friend and a tank of gas. ~ Thelma and Louise

[As we have previously noted, the Cards are an very young team. I’m sure this recent “habit” of losing control of games in the final minutes is something they will eventually overcome . . . ]

Dick

If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. ~ George Monbiot

[The Cards 6’8″ sophomore center Grayson Grove wins another tipoff. But I have to say Marshall was more than impressive during warm-ups. They have a 6’9″ player and it seemed about 6 other players over 6’5″?]

[Unlike the girls team, the boys, except for Grayson, are almost all seniors. This is the year to do something big . . . ]

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.  ~  Mary Oliver

Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative. ~ Maurice Chevalier

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you have not committed. ~ Anthony Powell

Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. ~ Kitty Collins

[Marshall is highly ranked, is in first place in their conference, but the Cards controlled this game from the get go with their pressure defense . . . ]

I vote for Boulder Tap House after the game . . .

[Senior guard Carter Steffensmeier (0) (and football quarterback) at the line. He leads the team with his hard driving offense and defense . . . ]

[The senior Sansted twins (Myles (11) and Peter (12) mirror each other bring the ball up court. Peter is getting more playing recently and taking advantage of it . . . ]

[Junior 6’2″ Jaxon Schoenrock (4) and senior 6’4″ Elijah Vanderveer (42) join Grayson (middle) on defense . . . ]

[Excellent first half, as well as they’ve played in a while . . . ]

[Carter @ the free throw line . . . ]

Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. ~ Jerry Seinfeld

[It seemed to me after the game that Grayson may have had a double-double in rebounds and blocked shots. I can’t find any stats on it. But this is my attempt to capture him getting a blocked shot when hat-on-backwards spoiled the shot!]

[A decisive win against a quality team . . . ]

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I’m tired of being set upon by crazed Christians one minute and unbridled libertines the next. Girls, I’m going camping. ~ Bailey White

p.s.

[I had planned on attending a special girl-boy hockey doubleheader on February 8. It was 36 degrees on the day (the first day above freezing since July) and there was water on top of the ice in the rink’s parking lot. I tried two different spots – I was taking my life in my hands at either one. I went back home. I was able to watch the girls game streamed. The Cards beat Bemidji 6 – 1 with the first ever hat trick from senior defense MaKenna Aure. And the boys team beat St. Cloud 5 – 4 in the nightcap. Both teams seems to be peaking nicely as sections approach. Photos below from the Cardinal Connection.]