BRRRRRRR!
Now it’s -10° with a -30 windchill!! Do any of you wonder why we put up with it? I do. One does not want to get drunk and pass out on the street in this weather. I have friends that actually enjoy going and up north camping in this life threatening climate. I like to warm my car up for about fifteen minutes (now that’s ecologically sensitive) jump in and drive to a heated garage. Just as Hawaiian business men where those goofy shirts to work, Minnesotans out of climate driven neccessity have developed a certain flexibility in there outlook on fashion. Those Norwegian sweaters are considered to be evening apparel in these parts.
And then there’s the Norwegians. I Love Norwegians. I’m married to a Norwegian. At one point my boss was a short Norwegian woman, I co-managed the department with a short Norwegian woman, and my wife was a short Norwegian woman. How many decisions do you think I got to make. One day I made the mistake of saying I had a bad headache and needed to go home. You can’t imagine the scorn I suffered, directed at my by all three.
But tonight I went to the visitation (I think that’s Lutheran for wake) for a short Norwegian woman. Joan Palmquist. My wife introduced her daughter, a co-worker, to my nephew some years back and they ended up getting married. Jill didn’t know she was marrying the whole family. The Palmquists embraced us with warmth and humor and hospitality. With Grandma Gangestad escaped in Arizona and my mom gone for a decade, our kids thought of Jo as their Grandmother. This little woman with a twinkle in her eye and an Ole and Lena joke for every occasion was one of the great people I’ve known. And it wasn’t just me. The place was packed. My brother-in-law (a Norwegian) said, “Liz and I could die simultaneously and they’d have to have an ice cream social to get this many people.”
Tomorrow’s the funeral. Could be interesting. Jill’s done most of the planning. She’s the one who had the Vikings mascot ride into her wedding on a Harley.

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