A Thousand Laughs

 

A few years ago, Chris gave me a gift certificate to Acme Comedy Company for Mother's Day. I finally redeemed it for our 31st anniversary dinner and an evening of good comedy. The club is in the heart of the Minneapolis warehouse district.

We got a prime corner table in the Sticks restaurant dining room, a very pleasant and airy space in an open space, with minimalist décor. Our server was pleasant and competent, and our drinks were served quickly. It's hard to go wrong with Johnny Walker Red, and the house Pinot Noir was surprisingly delicious. Bread and house salads were nicely presented and very good.

Sticks Restaurant

I can't say the same about Bob's sirloin steak (tough and decidedly well beyond the requested medium rare), or my seafood linguini. I picked out the clams, mussels and shrimp, which were passable removed from the strong, soupy tomato sauce and tired linguini. Bob's sides (green beans, spiced potato chunks) were fine.

No matter. The entertainment was great! We were ushered into our front row center seats in the adjoining club. Emcee Brandi Brown kept things moving along through the amateur comic contest (5 contestants, 3 minutes each) and the performances of featured comic Erik Allen and headliner Mike Winfield. We were very aware of being the oldest attendees, by at least three decades.

Bob had warned me before the evening began that I wasn't to raise my hand, under any circumstances. However, early on Erik Allen identified us as "old" and asked how long we'd been married. After a little sparring, Bob told the comic it was his job to entertain us! A very funny guy, a recovering alcoholic somewhat uncomfortable with sobriety. He has that edgy personality so often found in comedians and today, I found myself worrying a little about him.

Mike Winfield was side splitting funny. His act includes a lot of "black guy" and male-female relationship stuff. I laughed a lot and was totally spent by the time we left the venue shortly after ten. My abdomen is still sore today, and I laugh every time I think about our evening.

 

Must be Love!

June 25, 1983

Today Bob and I celebrate our thirty-first wedding anniversary. I never, in my most optimistic dreams, foresaw myself completing over three decades of marriage -- almost half my life. I'm starting to think it's going to last!

In June of 1983, the weather was hot and humid, and reality gradually sank in. I was leaving my job, my family, and my beautiful native land in only a few days. The anticipation of homesickness co-existed with the excitement of preparing for a wedding, and when I couldn't sleep, the words of a friend who predicted that I would be "home within six months" rang in my ears. The sensible side of me saw clearly the folly of marrying someone I had known less than two years, mostly through regular letters and weekly midnight phone calls, when rates were cheaper.

The sweltering heat broke on the morning of our June 25 wedding. The day was wonderfully cool and beautifully bright, and the happiness of the occasion tamed my fears. Our reception for about fifty people was simple, casual and elegant, at "Le Papillon de Rhodes", one of my favorite Greek restaurants on rue Duluth. Our honeymoon in a Nimrod tent trailer was a new experience for me, the first of many unusual and fun vacations with my husband.

The years passed with the usual life events that were not then documented on Facebook. Bob and I both enjoyed being older parents to our son: much of parenting was déjà vu for Bob, but for me it was all new and exciting. Our happiest moments involve family occasions and the opportunities to get together with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Florida 2014

I don't have much "relationship advice". I live by two "rules": the first is to avoid criticizing my husband's family and the second is the "one year rule". I believe that no one should "waste" more than a year on someone who isn't a clear candidate for a long term relationship. Similarly, a person shouldn't make rash decisions during the inevitable rough spots in a relationship. Let things sort themselves out for a year rather than abandon ship too quickly in the heat of emotion.

There is no traditional gift for the 31st anniversary, a good thing because neither of us is much of a shopper. Instead we're going to dinner and Mike E. Winfield at the Acme Comedy Club. Seems like a good way to celebrate all these years of good times and laughter.

Early Spring on the North Shore

Duluth Harbor Lift Bridge

We try to visit the north shore of Lake Superior several times a year so that we can enjoy the region's eclectic weather and waterscapes. I had been hoping to see the chunks of ice in Duluth Harbor but we missed that unusual sight by a couple of weeks so I wasn't surprised by a clear lake, with a cold breeze hinting at frigid water.

Temps had finally warmed in the Twin Cities but we were sensible enough to wear our jeans on the Corvette run last Tuesday. We had donned our jackets by the time we arrived at Grandma's, where tradition dictates a shared sandwich for lunch, in this case, turkey and bacon on a roll. I treated myself to a Prairie Mary, a delicious variety of bloody mary: vodka infused with red and yellow peppers, garnished with skewered beef-venison jerky stick, baby corn, and pickled herring. I had mine with half tomato juice to cut the acidity, and really enjoyed the amber beer chaser too. Bob had a beer, my usual choice.

Lilacs, wildflowers, garden plantings -- all vegetation, really -- were several weeks behind. That's always the case, but mid-June seemed very late for flowering crab, though it was lovely to see the trees in bloom for the second time in a month.

Superior Shores

We stayed in the main building at Superior Shores in Two Harbors, rather than at the Burlington Bay complex located about a mile south by highway, also accessible by trail running along Lake Superior. The building is showing its age and our room had no seating, apart from the bed and two extremely uncomfortable log chairs. Not enough outlets for our modest complement of chargeable devices.

I was surprised when I called in confusion about the wifi network (two discovered, but neither worked). At the end of my conversation with the front desk, I was told that some guests had noted problems, and that the service provider had been called. Wifi was out for several hours -- I'm fairly sure I've noted this problem before at the same hotel.

We drove up the shore to Gooseberry Falls the next day. The park was quiet and almost serene, with few insects and no black flies. We were expecting much more water over the falls, but, as always, it was a thrill to hear the water rushing enthusiastically toward the big lake.

Next time we may look for new accommodations, perhaps a little more modern and device friendly. This demand almost seems sacrilegious, since the beauty of the north shore is still the main attraction.

June 6, 2014: 70th Anniversary of D-Day

American Cemetery, April 2007

 Bob and I visited the beaches of Normandy during a 2007 trip to France. The April morning was overcast and rain was falling lightly, with mist obscuring the beach when we first arrived at the American cemetery.

Photo: D-Day Museum, Arromanches

This is American soil now, very peaceful and reverent. The crosses and stars of David stand in symmetry under the Norman sky, in the shadow of the flags that fly so proudly in honor of those who landed here in the summer of 1944 and the many who died in this foreign land.

HMS Northern Pride - converted trawler used in D-Day Landing
Photo by John Abbott

The experience was made all the more poignant when we learned out that John Abbott, one of our tour companions, was in that harbor as an 18-year-old sailor on D-Day, very much in harm's way, a real live hero in our midst. In his self-deprecating British way, he denied any heroism -- but there he was, a young kid in charge of radio operations, positioned above a magazine, never expecting to survive that dreadful day. He had joined the Navy because he "liked the uniform".

Arromanches - April 2007

We toured the D-Day Museum in the village of Arromanches, where evidence of the prefabricated harbor is still in the bay, a reminder of the engineering brilliance that gave the Allies a harbor in an area where all harbors were under German control. The harbor was a key component of the infrastructure created for the invasion of Europe.

I didn't realize until we went to Normandy that the march to Paris was a very long one, and that so many obstacles lay between the landing and the end of the war. The Normans have vowed to preserve those memories forever, in grateful tribute.

Finally: Bliss!

Today was the first day of retirement that I've really enjoyed. Perfect Minnesota summer weather, in the mid-seventies. No pressing outdoor work waiting for attention; inside chores pretty much done.

Bob had business to attend to so I was alone for much of the day. I spent an hour or so at Target looking at toddler toys, as I searched for a birthday present. I made three stops at Highland Village for sourdough bread, cocktail shrimp, and wild bird food. This afternoon I played with gift wrap made on my printer.

The sun is beginning to set and I feel none of my usual worry and existential angst. So-o-o relaxed and happy! A much better version of my usual self.