Saturday we joined thousands of over-the-hill couples in the afternoon sun at Marymoor park listening to Garrison Keillor talk us through a wonderful Prairie Home Companion. It contained all the best parts of his shows – Guy Noir, private eye; Lives of the Cowboys with Dusty and Lefty; and the sound effects man who does all the sounds (including some very realistic feedback, golfing, and helicopter noises) with his mouth. The show also included some excellent fiddle, mandolin, and guitar songs. I always forget how relaxing Garrison Keillor’s voice is, that smooth easy way of talking and ad-libbing that he works so nicely into the show, as well as the details about the show’s current location. He talked about Marymoor Park (said it was in Kings County; oh well, what’s a little misplaced “s”?) and throughout the rest of the show threw in references to Seattle – “come to think of it, he was from Seattle,” that type of thing. Lives of the Cowboys was set in Redmond. We enjoyed ourselves enormously despite the fact we sweated like pigs under the sun – it certainly wasn’t only 73 like dad’s car said when we arrived, and definitely wasn’t overcast and drizzling like the weathermen predicted. Ha! I smeared myself with zit-inducer… I mean, sunblock, and thereafter gained a fake tan as all the dirt particles in my viscinity magically stuck to me. I itched my face and my fingernails came back greasy and dirty. But it was worth it, and worth waiting for an hour to get out of the park, and worth being two of the fifty people at the show under 25, to sit there relaxing and listen in person.

The shade only made it to the 12th row by the end; Garrison kept us updated: “The shade has now reached the fourth row…” Our roommate Luke hates Prairie Home Companion for the way it stereotypicalizes (is that a word?) Minnesotans – but honestly, who wouldn’t want to be characterized thus: It is a place where all the men are strong, all the women are good looking, and all the children are above average.

– KF –