Weinzierl

Jewelers

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

8 First Street in Waconia.  952-442-2885

942-443-2078

Funeral Home & Cremation Services

952-474-9595

Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinic.

Occupational Therapy.  Speech Therapy.

952-443-9888

Huber

City of Lakes & Parks  952-443-2363

“Trees Are Our Roots”

8099 Bavaria Rd * Victoria * 952-443-2990

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         Fifty is a big number when it comes to some things, a little number when it comes to other things.  For example, fifty pennies is not a big amount of money.  Fifty grains of sand are barely measurable.  Fifty ants won't fill a thimble.  Fifty seconds aren't even a whole minute.

         But fifty dollars will buy a lot of french fries at McDonalds and fifty pounds will change the looks of a person in a big way.  Fifty boulders can make a decent retaining wall and fifty inches of rain would flood every basement in town.

         I'm thinking about the number 50 in a new light today for several reasons.  Just last month, for example, my little brother Paul turned 50 years old.  My children had their Uncle Paulie as a playmate in their childhood and he would give them rides on his four-wheeler.  And now, this past Father's Day weekend, Paul brought out one of his new "toys" for my grandchildren to drive around Mom and Dad's farm.

         Addie and Gunnar think it strange that I have known their Grandpa Al four years longer than I've known my brother.  It's been mentioned before that I met Allan when we were freshmen together in high school.  Little brother Paul was born after I graduated from high school.  Actually, I've also known Allan longer than my little brother Matt who was born halfway through my freshman year.

         In any case, if you put the numbers together, you figured out that our 50th class reunion is this summer.  Minneota, Minnesota, home of Minneota High School, from which my parents also graduated, holds an All School Reunion each year during Boxelder Bug Days, with different classrooms earmarked for the special reunions, like a 25th or a 50th, for example.

         You probably haven't gotten past "Boxelder Bug Days."  Here in Carver County, annual city celebrations sound more sophisticated to our city ears.  We have Volksfest in Victoria, River City Days in Chaska, Steamboat Days in Carver, Stiftungsfest in Norwood Young America. 

         We have boxelder bugs in Carver County, especially in the fall when they find the warm and sunny side of our homes or garages, but the nasty critters have warranted our scorn as a nuisance and not as something to celebrate.

         How would a name like "Boxelder Bug Days" happen?  It happened because of the late Minneota, Minnesota, poet, author, musician, professor, by the name of Bill Holm.  To make a short story a bit longer, Bill gave his students at Southwest Minnesota State University, which is located in the neighboring town of Marshall, a writing assignment. 

         When his students complained that there was nothing to write about out there on the prairie, Bill told them that was nonsense.  He picked up a boxelder bug that happened to be crawling across his desk and said, "You can write about this!"  The students did, and so did the professor.  In 1985 Bill Holm's book Boxelder Bug Variations was published.  Bill wrote many other books, some with titles, such as "The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth," but his hometown's famous celebration came to be called "Boxelder Bug Days."

         So back to the number 50.  Fifty is not such a big number if you're talking about boxelder bugs -- they might fit in a thimble if squished -- but it is a big number when you're talking about the number of years since you graduated from high school, even though I was youngest in my class.  (I don't understand just why I always add that qualifier, but it's true that I'm nearly a whole year younger than the oldest classmate.)

         If you're talking about a person's age, 50 is a medium size number, especially if you're 90 years old like my dad.  It's a very big number, however, if you're looking at it from the age of 10, like my grandson Gunnar.  Few things in life are relative, and perspective is one of them. 

         My children and friends made my 50th birthday a big deal.  That party may never be equaled in my lifetime -- unless we decide to have a  celebration for our 50th Wedding Anniversary.  But we won't talk about that right now.  It's some years away yet, and presumption can get people into a lot of trouble.

         I remember the first time I saw a $50 bill.  I was a young mother with babies, and Allan and I had been out for dinner with my parents.  As we were saying goodbye, Dad squeezed a $50 bill secretively into the palm of my hand.  The gift was very welcomed, and he did it more than once over the years.  Fifty dollars back in the '70's was the amount of money that Allan and I spent in a month on gas for the car.  Today it's the amount of money we spend to fill up the car with gas one time.

         When I'm driving 50 mph on an interstate freeway, it seems that I'm crawling like a boxelder bug.  If I would be driving 50 mph on Highway 5 through downtown Victoria -- which I would not do -- I'd be racing, like time. 

         Times flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana.

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From the Editor

Dedicated to the sunshine of truth,

the moonshine of meeting deadlines,

and the starshine of Victoria.

The Victoria GAZETTE

Sue’s Album

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and fewer than a thousand words

at www.VictoriaGazette.com

July 2015