Meat drippings and flour…

I can hardly hide my giddiness these days. ‘Tis my time of the year. Last weekend I was treated to my first snowfall of the season. Kathy, Lindsay and I were at the home of my brother Clay and his wife Linda in New Hope, where we witnessed the wonder of 10” of fresh snow falling outside their living room picture window. The show was complete with a rush of cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers and squirrels scrambling for food just on the other side of the glass. There is nothing like a little frozen whiteness to get me in the mood for the holidays.
Of course the holiday season also comes with a full schedule. Starting with last weekend, my dance card is full for seven straight weekends.
Our trip to the Twin Cities last weekend was for the purpose of attending a surprise party for my nephew Chris. It was a big week for Chris. We partied in honor of both his 30th birthday and his brand spanking new engagement to an exemplary young woman named Krista. Congratulations to both of them.
This weekend we will be off to New Ulm, where we will see another nephew, Zack Jensen, who will be starring in the NUHS production of “Hello Dolly” on Friday evening.
Saturday brings the annual Wilmes Family Thanksgiving…this year hosted by my brother Todd and his wife Susan in Sanborn. It marks the much-anticipated beginning of gravy season. Yum. Yes, I’m talking about the steaming hot flow of murky goodness that is absent from my life for most of the year. What a wonderful, versatile topping for virtually everything on the Thanksgiving dinner table, with the possible exception of the pumpkin pie. The smooth, silky, sultry, salty goodness that is ladled copiously on every inch of…um sorry. Moving on…
On Thanksgiving Day our merry band will travel to North Mankato, where the Thomsen family celebration will be hosted by my sister-in-law Cruella and her husband Dave. This is seemingly fitting, as she will soon be returning from a vacation in Turkey. Although, by the looks of the food pictures she has posted over the past couple of days on Facebook, I will be inspecting the main entrée to confirm that it is actually a domestic Butterball. Any signs of mussels and rice with a side of vine leaves and I’m out of there.
The following day will bring a bit of Black Friday madness. Rumor has it there will be some awesome prices on electronics throughout the season. I love electronics.
Okay…one more note about gravy…
One of my favorite Christmas memories was maybe four or five years ago. My yearly ode to gravy in the local newspaper column paid big dividends. “Off the Mark” reader Bev Gylling of Tyler saved and froze leftover gravy from throughout the year and presented it to me at Christmas. How does it get better than leftover gravy…the gift that keeps on giving. That stash of carbo-laden happiness lasted well into February as I recall. Having trouble coming up with gift ideas for me? 1. Electronics 2. DVDs 3. Gravy.
Sorry, sometimes gravy can distract my train of thought.
The festivities will continue into next month. First weekend—Opera House Christmas Show; second weekend—my office Christmas party, followed by a Sunday gathering of some of my family members as we hold a wake in honor of the death of the Vikings season; third weekend Kathy’s office Christmas party; and then of course, the Main Event on the following weekend—Christmas.
New Year’s weekend I’m hoping to sleep.
May each of you have a season resplendent with laughter, covered in gravy and devoid of Turkish goat cheese.
Happy Holidays!

I can finally pare back my verapamil dosage…

So, now it is okay for politicians to go back to using their inside voices, right? It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even listen to my WCCO morning gang on the way to work any more (although Mike Lynch has always made that somewhat difficult). Many mornings I had to turn off the radio and ride to work in silence in order to escape the obnoxious political ads. My blood pressure medication can only deal with so much.
In order to prevent angry “outside voice” emails from pouring into my inbox in the days to come, I am forced to keep my opinions to myself in this blog. OK, just one little comment… If you believe the polls, then it should amaze everyone how ridiculously scary a candidate can be and still get votes from Americans. I don’t ever want to hear the phrase, “I vote for the best candidate no matter if they are Democrat or Republican.” That is laughable. Damn, there I went and did it…now I will get accusatory Facebook comments after my blog post…
I guess on the bright side, newspapers and radio/TV stations’ coffers should be funded fairly well for the foreseeable future.
I always think that humans of any nationality, race or religion should err on the side of tolerance. That comment shouldn’t be too controversial, right? That is common sense, right? When I’m being queried by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, I want to be proud of my answers.
St. Peter – “So, as you know Mark, all people are God’s people, right?”
Mark – “Right.”
St. Peter – “Tell me, how did you treat Muslims? People who weren’t the same color as you? Gays? Jews?
Mark – “Well, for the most part I felt they have all the rights that I have, but it would depend…”
St. Peter – “Depend on what?”
Mark – “Well, if they are Republicans?”
St. Peter – “Mark!”
Mark – “Hah! Pete, lighten up…I’m kidding! Most Republicans are people too!”
St. Peter – “Hey! Your wife was wrong…you ARE funny! Come on in and have some pizza…”
Well, okay, maybe my meds should actually be dialed BACK a bit.
***
Happy Anniversary to Kathy and me on Wednesday.
Nineteen years ago today, November 2nd, 1991, I was out of town when we were supposed to be married. We ended up getting married on November 3rd after I finally escaped the Johnson Motel in Windom after three days during the Halloween “Blizzard of the Century.” Nearly two decades later, I’m still scared to ask if I was worth the wait…blood pressure issues, you know.