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About five years ago my son introduced me to the author don Miquel Ruiz. It has become one of the most important books in my library. I now read four pages every morning from “The Four Agreements”.
Since I do better when I tell myself what to do than when someone else tells me what to do, I wrote “The Four Affirmations” based on The Four Agreements. I do not mean to imply that you do not do these now, I simply want to share what works for me. I did get permission from the publisher to use these.

1. I will be impeccable with my word. I will speak with integrity. I will say only what I mean and avoid using the word to speak against myself or to gossip about others. I will use the power of my word in the direction of truth and love.
2. I will not take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of me. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When I am immune to the opinions and actions of others, I won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. I will not make assumptions. I will find the courage to ask questions and to express what I really want. I will communicate with others as clearly as I can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With this one agreement, I can completely transform my life.
4. I will always do my best. My best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when I am healthy as opposed to when I am sick. Under any circumstance, I will simply do my best and as a result, I will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
From the book The Four Agreements copyright 1997, Miguel Angel Ruiz, M.D. Reprinted by permission of Amber-Allen Publishing, Inc, San Rafael, California www.amberallen.com All rights reserved.

If you would like to have a copy of “Gary’s Koping Kit”, just ask. I would like to use the postal service, so I will need your mailing address. Happy New Year, may 2018 be the best year ever for you and your family.

Live from Here with Chris Thile this week is a look back on a few highlights from the past year while the gang tunes up for the first live broadcast of 2018 on January 6th. This week is a jam-packed mix, with music from Chris Stapleton, Rachael Price and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Fiona Apple, Randy Newman, Bon Iver, Hilary Hahn, Nickel Creek, Regina Spektor, and more, along with visits from comics Nick Offerman, Alice Wetterlund, and Tom Papa. Plus: a reading from George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo with the resident acting company, a look at First Drafts of Famous Songs, a little Bach from Punch Brothers and Music, and an edition of the game show Don’t Talk. All that and even more, as we wrap up 2017. Tune in on your local public radio station.

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” Anatole France (1844-1924)

Category : General

Comments Off on December 29, 2017

I trust that all is well in your village and in your cottage. One year ago yesterday I had emergency surgery to repair a hernia. I spent Christmas 2016 home alone watching “Home Alone”. During 2017, I had no health issues except a bit of the flu. In February, I will be having carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist. The left one was repaired in 2013 and it seems to be holding up. May 2018 be without any health issues for you.

I have attached “Christmas Angel 2017”. The artist is my granddaughter Christen Fouquette. Her older sister Kaylin Marie created the very first Christmas Angel in 2002 when she was seven years old. Christen drew her first angel when she was five years old. This is Christen’s eighth Angel. May you have a very Happy Holiday season with your family and friends.

This week, the “Live from Here with Chris Thile” show is a rebroadcast from December 2016 at The Town Hall in New York City. Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers play “Pretty Little One” and “Santa Fe”; Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer join Chris for a few Bach pieces, including the third movement the Sonata No. 3 For Viola Da Gamba And Harpsichord. Comic Marina Franklin offers observations on single life in NYC. Plus: a Song of the Week for the season, “Douglas Fir”; Aoife O’Donovan with “Glowing Heart,” and even more music with the band; a look back at some classic holiday records; and a reading of the annual Christmas letter from the Pritchards of upstate New York. Tune in on your local public radio station!

“What every child wants to know is ‘Do your eyes light up when I enter the room? Did you hear me and did what I say mean anything to you?’ That’s what they are looking for.
That’s what everybody is looking for.” Toni Morrison

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Comments Off on December 22, 2017

Ten days until Christmas. I have all of my shopping done and now I simply have to pace myself on the cookies and candy.
Children love Christmas, as well they should. As with most families, some years, Christmas gifts were easy to come by and some years the budget would not allow for much. The Christmas of 1956 was a memorable one for me. My mother had to move from our home in St. Louis Park due to Dad’s inability to handle alcohol. Her mother, Grandma Ramlo, drove her 1952 Chevy from Upsala to St. Louis Park, put Dad in the back seat and drove him to the VA Hospital in south Minneapolis. She told them, “He is a veteran, he is a drunk and he is now your problem, not mine”.

She took us all back to Upsala to live above Ramlo Grocery in Upsala. I am not sure what the reason was for our ending up living in an apartment in Little Falls in December. It had something to do with getting financial aid.

That Christmas, Santa brought us six big Tonka Toy 18 wheel trucks. There was a cattle truck, an oil tanker, a freight truck and three more. This was a perfect gift for a family with five boys. I am not sure what my sister Kathie got that year. For many years I had the impression that they were from some sort of social agency that served the poor. It turned out that “Santa” was Dewey Johnson, a classmate of my mother’s from the Upsala High School class of ’37. Dewey’s friend was one of the founders of Tonka Toys. Dewey had already passed on before I learned the “rest of the story”, so I never did have a chance to thank him. Perhaps you know of a family that has come upon hard times and they could use a “Secret Santa”.

Tomorrow I have a good chance to win a $24,000 Ice Castle. The Bowlus Fire Department is selling a limited number of raffle tickets. The drawing is at 3pm.
My grandson, Walleye Willie has already scored on a lake in Otter Tail County. Here is the link to the video. https://youtu.be/47l-yDEtQiU

The George Maurer Jazz Group will be performing their annual Christmas Show at The Paramount Theatre on Monday night at 7:30. I hope to see you there. www.paramountarts.org

“Remember, it is not about having time. It’s about making time.” Erik Osberg

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Comments Off on December 15, 2017

Christmas Eve is only two weeks from Sunday. I think that I have it covered, but I still have a couple of gifts to buy. I used to wait until Christmas Eve, but I have improved in that regard. I trust that your plans are all coming together.

In 1958 I was the youngest member of the Black Knights Car Club in Upsala, Minnesota. One of the older members borrowed his dad’s 1950 Ford and we ended up in a drag race with another member. I was riding shotgun. The Ford slid off of the gravel road into the left side ditch and hit a bridge. I can still remember the horn blaring, the rear tires spinning and the sound of the windshield breaking. I had put my arm up to protect my face and the force of the impact broke my wrist. I was a sophomore at Upsala High and that fall I had to stand on the sidelines instead of playing football. The sling that held the cast that surrounded my broken wrist did provide a perfect place to hide the “tools” that I shoplifted later on. The car club had plans to drop a V8 engine into the 1936 Chevy Coupe that the club had acquired from our leader, Duane, (AKA “Punk”). We needed tools. The old Chevy was stored in a garage that was behind the house that my mother rented on Borgstrom Street in Upsala. When the Morrison County Sheriff showed up at our front door with a search warrant, Ma fainted dead away. They were going to charge her with “fencing” since we had hidden some stolen goods in the barn next to the garage. The club house for the Black Knights was an old chicken coop next to the barn that we had cleaned out. The garage was still there in 2010, surrounded by trees growing out from the foundation. It has since been torn down.

The entire gang was brought to trial in the Morrison County court house and we each received a sentence of six months probation. “Punk” was held in the county jail for almost two months without bail. Our school superintendent was named as our probation officer. Two of the gang went to the boys reform school in Red Wing, but they both went on to lead productive lives. One was a successful franchise salesman and the other is a lay minister in the Twin Cities metro area.

The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra will performing both its St. Cloud Holiday Fantasy concert and its Children’s Fantasy concert on Saturday. The St. John’s Boys Choir will perform at both the 10am children’s program and the main event at 3pm. All of the symphony orchestra concerts are performed in Ritsche Auditorium at St. Cloud State University. Tickets are available at www.stcloudsymphony.com or at the door.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mohandas Ghandi

Category : General

Comments Off on December 7, 2017

It has been a tough week here on the third floor of Wimmer Hall. For the latest on Garrison Keillor simply go to www.mprnews.org I am not sure what the subject line of this Friday note will become, but as of this morning www.prairiehome.org is still working. I am sure that Chris Thile will continue to entertain every Saturday. I for one have come to look forward to the new talent that Chris has been bringing to the show.
Amos Lee for one. I have been watching the YouTube video of Amos performing “A Change is Gonna Come” a lot since Wednesday. If you would like the link, just ask.

This week APHC is back live with the first of three December broadcasts from The Town Hall in New York, New York. Spoon joins Chris with sonically adventurous rock’n’roll from their new album Hot Thoughts; Cécile McLorin Salvant is on hand, fresh off her third Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album; and comedian Carmen Lynch stops by with incisive observations from the darker side of life. Plus: a brand-new Song of the Week and a fresh crop of musician birthdays from host Chris Thile and the band — singer Sarah Jarosz, pianist and music director Richard Dworsky, Mike Elizondo on bass, guitarist Julian Lage, drummer Ted Poor, and Gabe Witcher on fiddle; high camp and low humor from our acting company, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman; and an Instant Song Request from you, the listeners. Tune in on your local public radio station, or watch live (Saturday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Central Time) at prairiehome.org!

“Life has its pain and evil, but like a good novel, there is infinite joy in seeing the World, the most interesting stories, unfold, even though one misses the end. W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)

Category : General

Comments Off on December 1, 2017

My mother’s mother, Laura Ramlo, and her husband Bert, owned a grocery store in Upsala, Minnesota. (photo attached) Most of us called her Grandma Ramlo instead of Grandma Laura and some just called her Gram. They lived behind the store in small quarters. The bedroom didn’t even have doors. They heated the living space with a fuel oil burner that was in the dining room and it had to be filled often. The store was heated with a wood burning stove. The wood and the fuel oil were stored in the attached warehouse. That was convenient. Gram was famous for her Thanksgiving dinners which were more like a feast. Owning a grocery store made it easy for her to offer turkey, beef and pork some years. Grandpa Bert would complain about her “raiding the stock” but not too hard. My job was to fill the crystal water glasses with water from the cistern pump in the kitchen. The kids would sit at card tables in the living room. We would always sing the “doxology” and express our thanks for the goodness in our lives and the food on the table. Every year, Gram would offer her apologies for the food, even though it was awesome. “I don’t know why I keep doing this, I just can’t cook anymore.” Not true Gram. I trust that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.

The APHC show this week is one final fall rebroadcast before the live shows start again. A show originally broadcast last November from the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado. Trey Anastasio plays “Back on the Train” and “Water in the Sky,” The Staves perform “Sadness Don’t Own Me” and “Blood I Bled,” and Tig Notaro joins Chris to discuss life as a comedian. Plus: Chris Thile’s entry in the Thanksgiving Music canon, “The Elephant in the Room”; even more music from Aoife O’Donovan; and a message from a new sponsor, Container Pants (the only Big Pants you’ll ever need.)

“If more if us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” J.R.R. Tolkien author of The Hobbit.

Category : General

Comments Off on November 22, 2017

In 1998 Dad moved from his high rise apartment in downtown St. Paul to my house in Upsala. He had been a city fellow for most of his life, but he was raised in Upsala. I was working in Minneapolis as a sales manager with a Xerox agency and I was gone most of the week. It wasn’t much of an inconvenience to have him there. His passion was cooking, however I told him in no uncertain terms that I hated the smell of fried foods and I did not eat leftovers.
In July of 1999 the Xerox agency that I worked for, Albinson, and Xerox parted ways and they no longer needed a sales manager. I spent the summer painting old buildings and garages in the Upsala area and started working here at MPR in October of that year. If I did not leave a post-it note on the counter in the morning that said “NO SUPPER”, there would be a home cooked meal on the table when I arrived home. The food was awesome. The baked potatoes were done in a special way. He boiled them 10 minutes first and then baked them for one hour at 400 degrees.
As Dad struggled with old age and cancer, sometimes the quality of the supper was not up to the usual standards. Also, many times the smell of burnt food or worse, burnt plastic, from the tea pot handle, would greet me at the back door. He burned three tea pots, with plastic handles, in the last six months. It got so that the only time I did not leave out the post-it note, “NO SUPPER”, was on Fridays. On November 18, 2004, I came home and he greeted me with “I have to go to the hospital, but you can eat first, your supper is in the oven.” I responded “No way” and I put on the oven mitts and grabbed the baked potatoes and dish of meatballs from the oven and shoved them in the frig and we drove to the VA in Minneapolis.
That was Dad’s “Last supper”, he never did come home. That weekend I ate the leftover meatball supper. It was a very tasty meal.

This week the APHC show is the second of three November rebroadcasts, this one from just over a year ago at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jason Isbell sings “Speed Trap Town” and “Cover Me Up,” Angélique Kidjo performs “Afirika” and “Orisha,” The Dover Quartet plays the Adagio for Strings by Pennsylvania’s own Samuel Barber. Billy Collins shares “On Rhyme” and “Thanksgiving” from his collection The Rain in Portugal. Plus: Chris Thile’s Song of the Week, “I Made This for You”; they will check in with the Philly Chapter of We’re Not Actually Doing Construction, Just Making Loud Noises Early in the Morning; a glimpse into the world of fine dining. Lydia Rogers of The Secret Sisters joins Chris on Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love.” Tune in on your radio or your digital device.

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect.” Marcus Aurelius

Category : General

Comments Off on November 17, 2017

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, which started as Armistice Day, commemorating the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front in Europe, at eleven o’clock am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. In many parts of the world, people observe a two minute moment of silence at 11 am as a sign of respect for the roughly 20 million people who died in the “war to end all wars”. I plan to visit the grave site of my father and my uncle at the Gethsemane Church Cemetery in Upsala. I used to visit a couple of vets who lived in Mother of Mercy in Albany. Aymer Nelson passed away this last year at age 104. Aymer was in the landing at Normandy Beach on D Day and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Bob Holmen Sr was on a destroyer in the Pacific. I miss them both.

My dad, Bill Osberg, served on a destroyer escort in the Pacific, the USS Vammen. He was a radar operator, spending hour after hour in a small room on a “tin can” while the fighting raged around him. In one of his journals he wrote: “The two months at Okinawa were hell.” We owe a great deal of thanks to all of those men and women who fought to protect this country. War is hell, but the warriors are not to blame. When you meet a man or women in uniform, simply offer them your hand and say, “Thank you for serving”. If you would like to help to honor veterans thru artwork, simply go to www.vetsart.org

The APHC show this week is the first of three rebroadcasts in a brief November break, this one originally from last October at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats perform “Wasting Time” and “Out on the Weekend”; Anaïs Mitchell sings “Why We Build the Wall” and “El Helwa Di”; and John Hodgman joins Chris to talk beards, sing “Roadrunner,” and test his Star Wars trivia mettle against Chris Thile. Plus: Chris’s Song of the Week, “Dates”; Sarah Jarosz sings “Green Lights”; Brittany Haas leads the band on a medley of Swedish fiddle tunes; our very own Bertrand Falstaff Heine reviews the new lineup of snow tires; and much, much more.

“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” George S. Patton

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Comments Off on November 10, 2017

Art rocks! Tonight is the last “Downtown St. Cloud Art Crawl” of the season. If you have never taken time to visit the various galleries and meet the artists, tonight would be a good time to check it out. Charles Gilbert Kapsner will be in the Gallery St. Germain, across from The Paramount Theatre. Charles is a Little Falls native who chose to study at the private studio of Nerina Simi in Florence, Italy. The family business in Little Falls was blacktop installation. Renaissance painting is quite a stretch from installation and maintenance of driveways. Recently, Charles won first place in the Salmagundi Club 2017 new member show. He is also working on the fourth of the five 8 foot x 10 foot oil paintings for the Veterans Historic Education Monument that are on display at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery located north of Little Falls. You can purchase a print of the Army, Navy or Coast Guard paintings tonight at the gallery. Tomorrow night the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra will be performing at Ritsche Auditorium on the campus of SCSU. www.stcloudsymphony.com

The APHC show this week is live from the San Diego Civic Theatre for the second broadcast of a two-week stand in sunny Southern California. Hometown heroes Nickel Creek are reuniting for the occasion and will contribute a new song to Chris Thile’s Song of the Week series; Fantastic Negrito and company head down the California coast for a blast of blues from the Bay Area; and comic Maria Bamford joins Chris from Duluth, Minnesota, by way of Hollywood. Plus: music and musician birthdays from our band — singer Madison Cunningham, Richard Dworsky on keys, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, bassist Alan Hampton, and Ted Poor on drums); Tom Papa checks in with observations from Out in America so the gang can focus on stuffing themselves with leftover turkey and yams during the brief November vacation, a pre-Thanksgiving script or two from our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman. Tune in!

“Never give up. Keep your thoughts and your mind always on the goal.” Tom Bradley

Category : General

Comments Off on November 3, 2017

I am not that much of a sports fan, but I do enjoy baseball in October. Tonight is game 3 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the LA Dodgers. Of course I did not stay up Wednesday night to watch the crazy ending of game 2. Neither of the teams that I wanted to be in the series won.

During the sixties my dad worked as a night desk clerk at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. I was attending high school in Upsala, so Ma would ship me down to spend some time with him once in a while. The first thing he would do is send me to the barber shop in the lower level of the hotel for a haircut and a shoe shine. He would put me up in a room at the hotel or at the YMCA.
Fifty-two years ago, the Twins were halfway to a World Series Championship on October 12th. “Mudcat” Grant was the ace pitcher of the 1965 Twins. The Twins beat the Dodgers in both home games but the road trip to LA was a bust. The Dodgers swept three games on October 9, 10 & 11. Back in Bloomington, Mudcat started game 6 in the Metropolitan Stadium and the Twins beat the Dodgers 5-1 to even the Series.
Dad was able to get me a press pass for game 7. I was worried about being challenged, so I stopped at a drug store and bought a note pad and a nice ball point pen. The press pass worked and they even gave me a box lunch. Sandy Koufax shut the Twins out in game 7, allowing only three hits and striking out 10. The final score was 2-0.

This week the APHC show is heading west for the first tour show of the season, live from The Pasadena Civic Auditorium in sunny Pasadena, California. As befits a visit to Tinseltown, it’s a star-studded affair, with a blast of Nashville-tinged rock ‘n’ roll from Dan Auerbach and his band; and violin virtuosity from Hilary Hahn, including a few Bach pieces with Chris Thile . Also with the gang: all the way from Bernice, Louisiana, gospel-soul-blues-man Mr. Robert Finley; and one of the most mesmerizing singers your ears will ever behold, Fiona Apple. If that weren’t enough, you will be treated to wit and wisdom from comedian, actor, author, citizen, and woodworker Nick Offerman . Also, a new Song of the Week and a final batch of October musician birthdays from the host and band (singer Madison Cunningham, music director Rich Dworsky on the keys, bassist Paul Kowert, drummer Ted Poor, Sean Watkins on guitar, and Gabe Witcher on fiddle); and APHC will celebrate Halloween with a selection of spooky scenes featuring the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman). Tune in this Saturday as MPR rolls two hours of red carpet radio straight to your favorite listening device!
“Life is easier than you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.” Kathleen Norris

Category : General

Comments Off on October 27, 2017