One of the phrases Garrison Keillor used over and over in his monologues Sunday was "They're Lutheran, you know" or "We're Lutherans." It was as if this phrase explains all the actions of his Lake Wobegone characters about whom he spoke as he talked of his days in the imaginative town. These words signified that no further explanation was needed to clarify their action-being Lutheran says it all.
I don't know if everyone agreed but he got no protests and several nods of agreement from the audience. It was sort of the equivalent to say a few years ago that "she's blond". Nothing more need be said.

Although it wasn't on my bucket list, I went to see a Garrison Keillor program yesterday. It was held at the Denver Botanical Gardens, which is just over the hill from our house (a mile or two maybe). The show was excellent and I really thought it was neat how he came down off the stage and walked among the audience without losing a beat. We received an e-mail stating we could bring food, sealed non-alcoholic drinks, and lawn chairs under 24 inches. They sold beer and wine and checked everyone as we came in. They didn't check the height on the lawn chairs which peeved several of us as the taller chairs blocked some views. I'm not a big Prairie Home Companion fan but this was a good show which lasted over two hours. During the intermission he again came off the stage and went out and sang songs with the audience.
Parking was miserable and disorganized but that was the only bad part.

Unfortunately I had to take a couple of days off to attend the funeral of a good friend. I used to visit him in the hospice a year ago and feel God gave Luciano an extra year of life.

I also learned that there won't be any camel herds in Iowa. With the sand and everything in the downstairs family room the ceiling isn't high enough. Pity. I thought it was a good idea.

After visiting with the Iowa relatives this weekend and a couple days this week, I heard about the flooding they had in the basement after the last bad storm that went through Iowa. They had to tear out all the carpeting in a huge family room. The question was whether to replace the carpet and take a chance on the next big storm or do something else with the floor.
I pondered this and thought "Why not fill the room with sand and cater luaus?" They already have the hogs on their farm so a pigs would be no problem. Then I came up with this idea-still fill the room with sand but raise camels. With all the equipment and money we've given to the Mideast, surely a Arab would give them a few camels to start a breeding herd to go along all those red Angus. In Iowa surely they would find something to feed them. They could do for camels what Ted Turner did for buffalo. Maybe they could get camel meat on the menu at Hickory Park and then wait for the ensuing demand for camel meat. Where does the material for camel hair coats come from? Maybe there would be a demand for the hides. They could house them in the basement family room in the sand during the winter. Water would be no problem. I know the clean-up would be a little gamy but no worse than hogs. They're known for a lousy temperament but no worse than several other farm species.
This is a chance to get in on the ground floor. I'm glad I thought of this.

Went to the Rockies-Braves baseball game at Coors field last night. My "brother-in-law" Gene, nephew Adam, son-in law Eric, and I all went. Gene's brother Glen, a local vet, met us at the game. Weather was beautiful, $5 parking garage, 1/2 price tickets, dollar hot dogs, and the Rockies won.
Gawd, I love baseball.

One of my relatives tells me that certain salsas are referred to as "Texas Caviar."

I'm beginning to understand why newspapers are going out of business. On my block only about 4 of us take the Denver Post and this is a neighborhood of educated people. After seeing what the new cell phones can do and the up-to-date info available, people feel the cell phone bill is a smart replacement for a newspaper subscription.
What we are getting in our "hood" is people delivering fliers to the door or taping them to part of the house. This may be the biggest growth industry in Colorado. We even have people knocking at our door with all sorts of sales pitches. Businesses may find that fliers reach the customers they are looking for better than large newspapers. We have a magazine that is targeted to residents in our part of the Denver metro area. It's probably cheaper and reaches the desired demographic customer at a fraction of the cost.
National TV networks may be next. I haven't counted the number of channels we receive but it's a bunch. It's no longer a three network world.
Just part of the adjustment to growing old. If we don't get nuked, I wonder what's next. Meanwhile I still enjoy my morning paper.