tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37492645910252206012024-02-02T12:42:51.889-08:00A Journey of DaysRobin Sauerweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16832151270521924616noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749264591025220601.post-88557116908467336842012-09-16T08:25:00.000-07:002012-09-16T08:25:19.001-07:00So Many Septembers Begin This Way
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So many Septembers begin this way</div>
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The bees diving into cups of lemonade</div>
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<br /></div>
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Children arriving early to school on the first day</div>
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Until mid-week when sleep is all they want to do</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Confused by noisy rush hour</div>
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Squirrels make a dash across streets. </div>
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Then stammer together in the middle with their partners</div>
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Like some polka dance gone afoul</div>
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<br /></div>
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Clouds frown grey</div>
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<br /></div>
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During frosty mornings</div>
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Toes curl under </div>
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In search of warmth from sandals </div>
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Refusing to hibernate for the year</div>
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<br /></div>
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Day drops off into night</div>
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Like falling off a cliff in a dream</div>
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Hypnotized into deep slumber</div>
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<br /></div>
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Trees ache with age</div>
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Cast off their leaves</div>
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Some with scarlet edges</div>
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Reminding us it is almost time</div>
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<br /></div>
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To pick apples</div>
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Jump in leaves six feet high</div>
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And get lost in a field of corn</div>
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Before </div>
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We must put away those sandals</div>
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And shovel our way through the day</div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Robin Sauerweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16832151270521924616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749264591025220601.post-78473691281372128382012-09-02T08:55:00.000-07:002012-09-02T08:55:06.587-07:00The Arrival of Mr. Dylan<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><strong>Dylan will be 13 years old on September 11. This is a memory of his birth. We are so happy he is here</strong>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The wait is almost over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Hofstrand asks the nurses to page my husband in the cafeteria where he has gone for breakfast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria;">They induced labor awhile ago and finally it is time to push.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Dr. Hoftrand is in the room with my mother in law, Erma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At my last visit, Dr. Hoftrand told me there would be a surgeon on call today in case the baby needed an emergency shunt to drain the water from his head. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also reassured me once again that the active movement of the baby the last few weeks usually indicated good brain development. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Erma and the doctor keep eyeing each other from across my bed as the contractions start to move closer together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Where do I know you?” Erma says. She is smiling and the corner of her eyes appear to curl upwards. There is something mischievous in her smile that I cannot place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">My doctor looks back at her and smiles in that same childish, secretive way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Perkins,” they both say together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I learn then that they both waitressed together at the Perkins in White Bear Lake. Attention and conversation turns away from me now but carries on across my bed about various customers and moments leaving them laughing uncontrollably at times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I am left to my own thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I have been waiting all summer for this day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The arrival of my second son Dylan should have been one of excitement but instead was a stormy mixture of fear, uncertainty and hope. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The pregnancy had not been easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After three previous miscarriages, I became pregnant again only to believe I was miscarrying again but this time while I was in Mexico. No one knew I was pregnant yet. I was close to that magical twelve week mark. Was I being punished? Was it because I climbed Chichen Itza? What kind of doctor would I find here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily I didn’t have to find out. It was a false alarm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Months later a series of ultrasounds revealed that the baby’s head was growing beyond the normal range. The ultrasound doctor diagnosed this as hydrocephalous: water on the brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He escorted us to a room where a genetic counselor told us that our baby would most likely be mentally retarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a voice that sounded almost cheerful she asked, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Would you like to know which states allowed abortions at seven months?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">After the diagnosis, I stood in the parking lot of Fairview Hospital digesting the news. I had neither words nor tears. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My gaze fixated on the revolving door for the Fairview Amputee and Gait Training Program across the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was this something our marriage could survive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it wise to try to have another baby at 38?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why didn’t I give up like my friend Teresa who was the same age and miscarried once? Was this some new challenge that would open new doors?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile I remember staring at those revolving doors wishing I would see a veteran hop out without a leg, something to stop me from feeling sorry for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Shortly after the diagnosis, I was put on bed rest. Once I went into false labor while Bill was at a scouting camp in Wisconsin. Hearing the news he left the camp in Wisconsin and raced for home escorted by the state patrol who asked him to slow it down just a bit. It was a false alarm and by the time he arrived at the hospital I left to go eat breakfast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Towards the end of the pregnancy, I gave up on sleeping in bed and instead slept sitting up in a recliner (which only helped a little). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the living room window, I watched as summer grew tired of itself and September rolled in. The trees shook their worn leaves off and the wind tossed them around the dusty streets like a rotten salad. The crickets grew louder each evening and the sun slept in later each morning. Still the time this would all end seemed so far away like watching an all-day rain from your window, rain drops pelting the side of your window and you keep thinking when will it stop?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">This was also the first year I missed the State Fair and I watched it on the television feeling depressed until the State Fair came to me. After work, Bill raced around the fairgrounds in 90 degree heat, gathering a tray of my favorite fair food. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a good distraction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span><strong>*****</strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bill arrives back in the room in time for me to start pushing. There will be jokes later about Dylan interrupting his breakfast but for now there is only tense anticipation of his arrival and his condition. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The pushing is difficult and nothing seems to be happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctor is at the end of the bed coaching me to keep going. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">I tell myself it is almost over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I push but I am exhausted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“Well, I have never seen this before,” the Dr. says abruptly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He is actually trying to go back in. Unbelievable!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">No one can believe this either and there is a momentary silence in the room followed by a chuckle by Bill in the corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">But I keep telling myself the wait is almost over; I give another push and tell myself it is almost over. And I will know.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong></strong>Robin Sauerweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16832151270521924616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749264591025220601.post-52771243191210965352012-08-26T09:52:00.004-07:002012-08-26T09:59:12.422-07:00State Fair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQTCDu6_W3iAHbkBb5PODqWLaxT_AeBS51T1JByIkMFY3smI1CewBhu4YJSUBlh7CdDnikYm8xgTZA3WQ_5o47C5Ze3TKAUBnYqw72hUPVXQtASFhTYHizSeIVFXutRIki5BUaR_gBak/s1600/statefair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQTCDu6_W3iAHbkBb5PODqWLaxT_AeBS51T1JByIkMFY3smI1CewBhu4YJSUBlh7CdDnikYm8xgTZA3WQ_5o47C5Ze3TKAUBnYqw72hUPVXQtASFhTYHizSeIVFXutRIki5BUaR_gBak/s320/statefair.jpg" width="82" /></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>State
Fair</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
it’s state fair time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
must go at least once <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
not twice or even three times<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
might miss something<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Something
big<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
everyone I know will be there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
I can’t be there, something is wrong <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
some silent disease <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’d
grow jealous of the happy adults <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Waving
their corndogs at the television cameras<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Smiling
because they’ve reentered childhood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
I have not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My
history is carved into its buildings, its grounds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
the fair opens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ghosts
of my past reopen like a well-loved book<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Full
of memories, moments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Reliving
my stories from the outside in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Early
morning, I meet friends at the Star Tribune<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
foot of the grandstand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
concrete bridge leads you up into its second floor <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
windowless garage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Reminding
me of a flea market in Florida<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ronco
salesmen and Christian book retailers call out to me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Take
a look at this!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">United
Stores has moved away and so has the customized dog tags<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That
I bought in honor of my first boyfriend<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Walk
sidewalks that I walked the year before <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
the year before that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Crossing
my own path<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Walking
around in circles like a lost hiker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
search of a cheese curd or a fudge puppy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Or
the nearest bathroom on a stick<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Leaping
over legs, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Dodging
strollers spread out to rest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On
street curbs and small patches of green grass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Trampled
and wet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I stop
for food <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Armour foot long by the haunted house<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
mini donuts near the Grand Stand <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
food building shuffle <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Peters
hotdogs, French fries, taffy, and elephant ears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stopping
in at the art center, dog and 4H exhibits, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Butter
carvings in the dairy building<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stumbling
over seniors in Heritage Square<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Whose
numbers double every year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
mandatory appearance at the barns <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To greet
animals’ behinds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pick
out a favorite goat, horse, and swine <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ask
myself why there are chickens in the sheep barn?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Head
over to the coliseum, so I can walk another circle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stop
for horses trotting in for their show<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Spilled
beer mixes comfortably in the dust <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Urban
cowboys and girls walk with chocolate covered strawberries, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Trying
on western shirts and picking out oysters with pearls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One
stop for cheese curds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Another
at the Giant Slide<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
walk by honey candy, bees and flowers <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
ignore <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“all the milk you can
drink” signs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">because
the price is too high<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a
beer at the bazaar makes much more sense<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
spread <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3749264591025220601" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>myself over to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ye
Old Mill and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Midway at dusk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So
grateful that the carnie yelling is not my nephew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Feet
aching, but content I ride the bus home with <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Overtired,
sugar induced children and parents passed out on fun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I return
with bags and papers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One
more yard stick for the closet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
a half filled container of Sweet Martha’s <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Tired
and surprisingly hungry for something a bit more healthy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and
less expensive than a $6 hot dog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
did it, I’m done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“How
was the fair?” my friends ask<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Oh
the same” I answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But
that’s why I like it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Robin
Sauerwein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">August
22, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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Robin Sauerweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16832151270521924616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749264591025220601.post-66560701760727948752012-08-21T09:01:00.001-07:002012-08-31T19:31:19.221-07:00Opposites<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">15 years of marriage this week. It doesn’t seem like that long and that’s a good thing. I have been married once before and I know what a bad marriage is like. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why I was so reluctant to try it again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">I get different reactions to us as a couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some look at us as an odd couple, opposite in appearance, nature, personality, hobbies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have agreed to that interpretation as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">I am quiet, introverted, and romantic. I prefer a long quiet walk in a park to a loud party. I enjoy reading, writing, and the arts. I love almost all types of music. I am very patient with people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bill is loud and loves to socialize. He’s a storyteller. He listens to Heavy Metal and Yanni. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loves strategy and politics. He is practical and brutally honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is boisterous and unafraid of confrontation. He angers easily towards tools and ignorant people. His son, Stefan, moves out of the way if he sees his eyes turn black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Thoughts of the Hulk come to my mind.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will stand up for not only himself but for others. Many people think he is taller than he is by his confident gait. He carries a very intimidating knife for everything from cutting an apple (he says only animals gnaw at that their food) to scratching his back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sister who met him first said, “You’ve got to meet Bill he is so funny and looks like Charles Manson.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Why would I find him interesting? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">His best friend, Joe also said, “You have to see Bill’s bedroom. He has comic books on one side, weapons on the other, and a bunch of care bears.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">I wasn’t too excited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">I wasn’t into knives or comic books and I hated care bears. Yet I agreed to meet him and that is when I learned the meaning of that the old saying, “you can’t tell a book by its cover.” You might say he is an oxymoron of himself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a couple of years we were married. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">At first blush, it can seem we are polar opposites. But opposites attract.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">In many ways we represent the paradoxes of life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the good/evil, the yin/yang that exists in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Underneath the obvious differences between us, lies a solid value system of trust and respect that displays itself daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have much more in common than what others see on the surface.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bill talks about my latest projects or successes to neighbors and coworkers frequently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We hear about you all the time,” they say. I blush. Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would this burly, loud,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“manly man” talk about his wife while bartending. But he does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">He also comes home and tells me about all the men who complain about their wives and their marriages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">And then there are those moments where our opposite natures complement each other similar to a teacher who places a quiet student next to a hyperactive one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">When Bill is ready to “ring the sales manager’s neck “at Home Depot, he will call me so I can listen to his ranting. My calmness calms him down. (Thus no appearance by the Hulk) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Likewise, when I am prone to a bad mood swing, he is there to poke and tease me into laughing because again out of character, Bill is always in a good mood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">I can’t say Bill has ever bought me a $75 dollar bouquet of roses on Valentine’s Day or even remembered to wish me a happy birthday (without reminding him).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do remember the time he presented me with a single rose, or on a 95 degree day, after working for 9 hours in the heat, Bill went to the state fairgrounds picking up my favorite fair food to surprise me because I was pregnant and on bed rest; or the sonnet he composed for me, just for the heck of it while on a lake alone in the Boundary Waters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">It isn’t what you do on the designated Hallmark dates that matter but how you treat each other on a daily basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Although I haven’t been happier, here is where we switch roles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am the realist and Bill is the romantic. I believe there isn’t’ any guarantee in life that we will always be together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Yet, Bill’s answer to this is, “If you divorce me, you can take the house but I’m keeping all the nails.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Definitely something I need to think about first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Robin Sauerweinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16832151270521924616noreply@blogger.com0