Huber

Funeral Home & Cremation Services

952-474-9595

Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinic.

Occupational Therapy.  Speech Therapy.

952-443-9888

Victoria’s Corner Bar.  Nightly Specials and Menus.  952-443-9944

Buying or Selling Victoria?

Call Nan Emmer.  612-702-2020

Weinzierl

Jewelers

8 First Street in Waconia.  952-442-2885

Preschool and Childcare in Victoria. 

Call 952-443-2121.

MVT Excavating

No job is too small.  952-446-9341

The Key

The Key to advertisers

in the Victoria Gazette. 

Located at www.VictoriaGazette.com.

952-443-2808

Specialized assisted living for those

with memory challenges. 

Victoria.  952-908-2215
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GAZETTE

From the Editor

         Happy New Year.  A few days ago I heard reported that a poll was taken about which way people prefer to pronounce 2010.  Approximately 56% preferred to say “two thousand ten” because it naturally follows “two thousand seven,” “two thousand eight,” “two thousand nine.”  Another 35% preferred to say “twenty ten” because it rolls off the tongue easily, and 9% didn’t much care one way or the other.

         For about the last forty years I’ve had a similar issue related to my telephone number which is 952-443-2010.  I’ve been ambivalent about whether to say “twenty ten” or “two zero one zero” or “two oh one oh.”

         I like to say “twenty ten” because it does roll off the tongue easily but it stops people in midair for a moment.  Either they look up blankly or their pen stops moving or there’s silence on the other side of the checkout counter.  So I often say “two zero one zero” which is numerically accurate, of course, but involves six syllables and is not pleasant to the ears.  Much of the time I find myself saying “two oh one oh” in staccato.

         You think all this conversation about 2010 is silly?  Indeed, it’s not a heavy matter nor weighty issue, and none of the pronunciations is politically correct or incorrect.  It doesn’t affect global climate or the green part of our planet or airport security.  However, a phone number and a brand new year are part of reality.  At least you readers will only deal with 2010 for 365 days.

***

         A lot of us make resolutions this time of year, which means a lot of us need improving or want to be improved or hope to be improved.  I fit into all three of those categories quite nicely, thank you, but I seldom reveal my resolutions.  Maybe because I keep making the same ones.  Oh well, better than complacency, nicht wahr?  I resolve to not be complacent.

***

         I’m still reveling in a wonderful Christmas and it pains me to think about putting it all back into boxes.  With each Christmas ornament and manger piece that I put away -- and each Christmas bear and nutcracker, and each Christmas candle and Kris Kringle -- I also put away a piece of my heart, a piece that will never return to a living pulsating moment in time.

         How do we keep celebrating and surviving Christmas, one after the other, without losing heart?  I guess we’re supposed to keep it out of the boxes in the first place.

***

         I spent part of January 1st vegetating in front of the big screen where I found some favorite movies that I didn’t mind repeating on this lackadaisical day.

         “How the West Was Won” could just as well be entitled “How the World Was Won.”  For starters, both the West and the World need(ed) winning.  Secondly, the winning is (could be) accomplished in similar ways:  bravery, vision, hard work, good values and virtue, living the golden rule, choosing right from wrong, strong support and assistance from like-minded people.

         To go on, both the West and the World have a cast of giant players.  In the movie I found Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Jimmy Stewart, Richard Widmark, Debbie Reynolds, and other familiar faces like Karl Mulden.  In real life there are also giant players and familiar faces, but few today who are so talented in their task as those from the movie -- which explains why the World hasn’t been won and, in fact, seems to be losing.

         If you allow me to look back to ancient times, however, I can easily name some giant players in the World who pivoted in the right direction:  Athanasius, Augustine, Thomas More, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.  If I were forced to name names from more recent times, and suffer the ridicule of secularists and non-seekers, I’d identify Pius XII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Mother Teresa.  I hope the pivotal players that you would name could also stand the test of time.

***

         Another movie I  watched on January 1st, a movie for which I yearn this time of year, is “Lord of the Rings.”  As you know, it involves a battle against dark evil forces both seen and unseen.  It’s a battle for Middle Earth.

         Most of us probably identify with the little people of the Shire, where we find our friends and family, where free will is used for good, where harmony prevails.  We hobbits of the Shire are not in the world as giant players, although we can move mortar into Mordor if necessary. 

         We prefer the relative safety and simplicity of our lives and we don’t want or need to venture too much nor too long beyond our lovely lanes and landscapes.  As Bilbo Baggins says, “It’s a dangerous business, going out your door.”

         J.R.R. Tolkien may be dead and gone from Middle Earth, but his voice lives on and withstands the test of time, especially as he says, “The hearts of men are easily corrupted.”  Maybe that explains why some of us pack away a piece of ours inside the Christmas boxes.

January 2010