Choir Concert!

     This afternoon the Augustana University choir sang at Augustana Lutheran Church (how appropriate was that?) and I attended. The choir isn't very large but it's musically superb. The audience was largely my peers, who would fit right in at an old folks home. It was fun to chat with some of the choir members,  all of whom hung around the post concert reception.

   One student, with whom I had conversation, is a resident in Bergsaker Hall. Joanne was the first head resident in that dorm the year it was open in 1963-64. It was the first coed dorm on campus, but, under early 60s rules. The sexes were divided by wings, the men in the west wing and the women in the east. Here's the funny part. Men had no curfew but women had to be in the dorm by midnight. At midnight the door to the women's section was locked!😀 Long, long ago.......

   On Sunday I graduated from Augustana and on Saturday we were married. We lived in the head residents apartment for two months while Joanne commuted to the University of S.D., to get one course she lacked to be certified to be a Minnesota School counselor. Her hiring at at Saint Louis Park High School was contingent upon her completing that requirement. 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS The hockey game last night ended 4-3, in favor of granddaughter's team.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a temple in Ayutthaya I passed to and from school. It was built in 1630. Guess how long it took me to learn how to pronounce it?

Smile

 

Hockey!

     Hockey has never been a part of my life. I understand that the idea is to get the puck in the net. Beyond that I quite clueless. My alma mater, Augustana University, added hocky a few years ago. They built a state of the art facility. President, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, told me that the ice is occupied from 6:00am until mid-night every day. Augie's team has done well. Because it is Division I, the school gets some good publicity.

   A side benefit for the University comes from Title IX. To balance the men's hockey, tumbling and field hockey for women was added. Both are popular leading to a boost in enrollment.

   My granddaughter took up hocky this year as an 8th grader. Tonight I'm going to watcher her skate. "Dress warmly" I was warned.

Takk for alt,

Al  

Well then..

   A trip to the periodontist this morning was instructive. Who would of thought that they swelling in my gums was caused by blood pressure medication? Well...that's the diagnosis! So the periodontist is in conversation with my primary care physician. The question? are there are other medications she's comfortable prescribing?  It's Friday, so...

   Just wanted you both to know I'm alive and well. 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS This addition to yesterday's post, from Heather Cox-Ricahrdson

"But Noem is not likely to disappear from the news. Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker recorded a video saying: “Hey, Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Here’s your legacy: corruption and chaos. Parents and children tear-gassed. Moms and nurses, U.S. citizens getting shot in the face. Now that you’re gone, don’t think you get to just walk away. I guarantee you, you will still be held accountable.”'

"Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was more direct: '“Turns out lawlessness is not a winning strategy,”' he posted. '“See you at Nuremberg 2.0.”'

Barnyard Barbie Farewell!

      Barnyard Barbie, aka Kristi Noem, is out, "don't let the barndoor hit your backside as you leave!" South Dakota has a lot going for it but wisdom in politics is not its asset. Very embarrassing that Barbie was elected governor. She has much to live down but the blindness not to recognize it. Sounds like she won't be returning to South Dakota soon which is a relief to dog owners.

   On that cheerful note I'll say..

Takk for alt,

Al

Book!

    What would we do in this tragic time in our nation's life, if we didn't have books?  Beginning with her first Christmas, and ever since, I've give L a book. This year's choice was a winner! It came recommended in a review in the Minneapolis paper. After she read it she allowed me to read it, and it's a delight.

   The book in question is Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, copyrighted 2025. Ann Patchett writes on the jacket, Buckeye is "Full of love and war and the perilous intimacies of smalltown life. Buckeye is funny and tender realistic and strange."  One charcter even enlists in the Marines and his parents reaction reminds me of mine when I enlisted. The characters are very well developed and also very engaging.

   'The toxicity of secrets to relationships' is the theme I'd give the book. Part of its charm is the long breath of time covered thus tracking lives as they weather the storms through which people live. It is filled with deep reflections on the nature of relationships and life in general. One of the characters in early old age thinks, "This is why old people seem distant distracted. he thought. We aren't living in the past; the past is living in us. And it's talking. We get old to be able to recalibrate everything we thought was going to be important. We get old just to hear it. It says, the days, the days, the days." P. 446  

   Read it, you'll be glad you did!

Takk for alt,

Al

Dentist Again!

      Today the dentist did a small filling, either on, or below, a crown. This gave me the opportunity to ask some questions. Last time, while she sat beside me designing the crown on a computer screen, she was talking about her experience teaching dentistry at the University. Fascinated by that conversation, and her showing me what she was doing on the screen, I didn't think about how the crown was being fabricated. L wondered if it was done with a 3-D printer.

    No, it wasn't done with a printer. It is chiseled out of a solid block of material. Many more questions could have been asked about that process but they will have to wait for a later time.

    With her permission I was allowed to ask a personal question. Her first name is Krishna, which is the name of a male, Hindu god. I asked, "Is it unusual for a girl to be named for a male god?"  She said, "No." Then she explained that in the south of India, from which she comes, it is common. She said there were several girls in her neighborhood named Krishna. She went on to explain that in the north of India it is boys who are named Krishna, but had no idea the origins of those practices. 

   "Thanks," I said, "But in my eyes you're a goddess!"

Takk for alt,

Al