Hello Friends and Greetings from the golden and blue state of Minnesota! Golden for that ambient light that glows beneath the trees on sunny days and blue for the incredible blue skies of October.

I know, I know. We have other colors to which we are to be loyal. Maroon and gold for the Golden Gophers. Golden and blue sounds suspiciously like the maize and blue of Michigan, and that just won’t do.

The Hamm’s bear brings us the other color used  to describe  Minnesota:   the land of sky blue waters.

Okay, how many of us heard that tom tom of the Hamm’s Beer tv commercial just now?  Just checking.

Well, have I got news for you! The name Minnesota does not mean land of sky blue water, but instead means land of cloudy water. There was a transition glitch way back when.

But when you think of it, where else would the muddy Mississippi get its start? Literally and figuratively.

Granted, beer coming from sky blue waters sounds a lot more palatable than beer coming from cloudy, muddled water.

On the other hand, does blue water mean that it’s clean and fresh? I think that Windex keeps my windows clean, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to drink beer made from it.

And speaking of clean windows, does anyone else remember cleaning windows with a wet cloth rubbed on a dry bar of special soap–what was that stuff?—then swirled onto the pane of glass? Then you let it dry and scrubbed off the film with newspaper? A cake of Bon Ami?

Sigh.  There were so many, many tall windows in that house on West Fourth Street.

Nope. No transition here.

I saw a caterpillar running today. Flat out hauling a**.

I have become used to seeing caterpillars on my fall walks, avoiding them as they slowly make their way across the tarvea walkway around the lake.

But this one was making time!

It made me wonder: with all its little feet, when it runs, do any of the feet land at the same time? I mean I realize a horse has four feet and when he gallops, you can hear each individual beat, sometimes hearing them land in twos.

But what about the caterpillar? When it runs, does it gallop? Can you hear each footfall? Or are they in pairs? Is there a rhythm?

And if I were small enough to be in the caterpillar’s world, would I be deafened by the sound? Or are they wearing sneakers?

Or do the front end and the back end pairs take over and do the hard work while the pairs in the middle are just for show? Or is it the other way around, the front and back pairs just lift up and go for the ride while the middle feet do the work?

And when they stop, do the front pairs stop right away and the back pairs run into the pairs in front of them like an acccordion?

And why does this caterpillar look like a skinny unbanded wooly bear caterpillar? You know the smaller the band the more fierce the winter, *so they say.

That’s true.

They also say the opposite.

The truth lies somewhere between the two.

That’s true.*

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Some lines from past plays never go away. That *script* came from Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano” which we performed in repertory with “Angel Street” which was titled “Gaslight” when it was a movie with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.

Now THAT would be a good scary movie to watch this Halloween season.  No blood and guts, just good old fashioned Hollywood terror of an innocent woman slowly being driven crazy by a greedy conniving husband.

Oh boy! James Joyce and his stream of consciousness writing has nothing on me tonight!!!

And last but not least, look what I found in a stack of teaching books I took to ARC today:

Hahahahahahaha! It’s a copy room request from when I was teaching!!!!! Since it makes me smile, I may keep it and use it as a bookmark.

So, tonight is the anniversary of Dr. Liffrig delivering me and deciding to wait until a minute after midnight to cut the cord, thereby insuring that I never have a birthday on a Friday the 13th. Thanks, Doc!

(although it really screws up anyone trying to do my horoscope!!!!)

Have a wickedly fun weekend; I know I will!!!

Love,

Janet