Page Title

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.

I was informed by a favorite subscriber that only great minds can read the following weird but interesting letter. It begins: fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Araenplpty olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rseerach at Cmabridgde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mniddeos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig, huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was iproamtnt.

***

Spelling is important. Words are important. They can tell us the truth and they can lie. Sometimes people say they are sick and tired of having the truth shoved down their throats. I say that it’s precisely those people who don’t want to hear the truth spoken clearly or directly who make that accusation in the first place. They would have to live as the truth requires, and so they rationalize and justify their personal path by accusing others of shoving.

Truth is not being forced upon anyone. You can’t force that sort of thing; you can only offer it. A clean and uncluttered mind can accept it, and wants to accept it. I believe that those people making the accusation about shoving truth are, in fact, doing (or trying to do) the force feeding themselves with unclear and rambling words. Or silence. Or sleepiness. It’s sophistry. I’m not hungry for it.

***

Yes, we enjoyed our week of southern hospitality in New Orleans, where Oysters Rockefeller and Seafood Gumbo highlight menus, and where blues music and jazz penetrate the night air. Following Fay was but a very small diversion in the realm of things, but notable nonetheless.

Temperatures stayed below 90 degrees for us because of the nice cloud cover due to Fay so we didn’t suffer from heat and humidity until the very last day. The daily chance of showers also didn’t affect the local hot spots. Maybe you’ve heard of Sammy’s or Petunia’s? How about Pat O’Brien’s or Drago’s? Arnaud’s was fabulous. The muffilettas at the French Market were delicious.

***

I’ve been receiving letters to the editor endorsing various candidates who are running on the national, state, and local levels of government. For the most part, I don’t print political letters. It’s not that I’m not interested. I’m very interested.

But I don’t want to use space in the Gazette for that political purpose unless it’s paid for. In other words, candidates and constituents may purchase ad space in the Victoria Gazette to promote their political favorites or to promote themselves. It’s not a very expensive proposition. On a personal plane, the one that flies in the Gazette, I seldom endorse anyone. But I do endorse the truth. I am totally 100% unequivocally biased in favor of it. When Oprah talks about “my truth” and “your truth” and “we all have to follow our own truth,” she might sound intellectual and “non-judgmental” to herself, but it indicates a foggy mind.

Simple truth (two plus two equals four) and mysterious truth (life begins at conception) are the same for everybody regardless of eyesight or upbringing. Regardless of faith or lack of faith. Regardless of country, class, or color of skin. It satisfies a hunger, unlike empty rhetoric or empty calories.

***

We had unusual food in New Orleans that you don’t find at the Victoria House or School of the Wise or Floyd’s. For example, we walked several blocks in the heat and humidity to eat a second muffiletta before we left the city. It consists of a hard crusted bread loaf with meats like ham or Italian cold cuts inside and cheeses melted together and an olive relish that you can’t ignore. The olives are its identifying signature.

At the Riverwalk we chewed up a crunchy fried shrimp Po Boy wrapped with shredded carrots and celery and a little mayo oozing amongst all of it. Surprising and pleasing combination.

Crawfish taste much like crab except the edible flesh you get from the spindly and mangled critter is so very tiny. The swallow from each crawfish tastes good but seems a lot of effort in the kitchen to retrieve such a scrap.

Oytsters Rockefeller is always a favorite of ours and if you’ve never become acquainted with that Mr. Rockfeller, he means business with fresh oysters, spinach, butter, bread crumbs, and salt. I learned that the dish is so named because a customer long ago had exclaimed, “Why, this is as rich as Rockefeller!” (And it wears the color of greenbacks to boot!)

One night I had scrumptious crepe filled with shrimp in a lobster and onion sauce and another night we had tender chicken breast topped with nice-sized shrimp. Never saw that done before.

***

The truth is that you can hardly find anything I don’t like to eat -- except lies and misrepresentations and mutton. They all leave a bad taste in my mouth. Did you know that olny 55 seehp out of 100 can raed tihs?