Heiller jinxes and other Get-a-ways ~ March 25, 1993

David Heiller

I wrote a column on March 11 about the imminent return of spring. I drew on crack observations like owls hooting, skunks spraying, sap running.

Then on March 13, the temperature dropped to 14 below zero. The next night, the temperature fell to 10 below zero. And on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, it was 12 below. We wrote it on the calendar.

Winter gets long...
 lap sitting and getting away can help!

In fact since that brilliant column two weeks ago, the temperature hasn’t risen above freezing. However, the temperature today (Saturday, March 20) is supposed to rise above freezing, and by next week, it’s going to hit 50, so the weather man says.

Therefore, to avoid another Heiller Jinx, I am going on record: spring is a good two months away. We are going to have three more blizzards before May 1. Your pipes are going to freeze, and your car won’t start. The owls will fly back to Capistrano, the skunks will return to their dank dens, and the only sap you’ll see is me.

NOW when the weather turns nice, you can thank me.

And here’s another prediction: The Twins will finish last in the American League West this year, winning 69 and losing 93.

Buy your World Series tickets now.

Saying “Thank you.”

When I was a kid, the city of New Albin, Iowa, would show free movies outside every Friday night. Our family and cousins would drive 14 miles to see it. We would spread a blanket on the dewy grass and eat popcorn and watch some movie that wasn’t very good. That didn’t matter. It was an adventure that included playing and fighting and staying up late under the stars.

Part of the fun was getting to go to the grocery store to buy a Popsicle or Sugar Babies or some other treat. One night, when I was about eight, I bought something and said thank you and the sales lady said I was the politest boy she had waited on all night.

I like to tell our kids that story. I’ve embellished it to the point where there is a plaque in the store in my honor. I still remember the incident, and I bring it up now because I read recently in an article about good salesmanship, how you should say “thank you” often.

I had to agree, but not just because I sell advertising as part of my job. I LIKE to say “thank you.” It feels good.

It’s good to hear others say thank you. When I call on Moose Lake Implement for advertising, I will say thank you when I’m leaving, and 99 percent of the time, someone will answer, “Thank YOU.” It’s almost guaranteed. Maybe that’s one reason why they are so successful.

Or go into Stanton Lumber in Askov; even if you don’t buy anything, before you leave the store, Mary Jo Jensen will hit you with a “thank you.”

It doesn’t come naturally to everyone. My daughter, Malika, is distributing Girl Scout cookies now. I had to give her a nudge today when she gave Palmer Dahl his box of Thin Mints and took his $2.50. “Thanks” she said. By the time she has distributed all 67 boxes, she should have it down.

I hope someday it comes naturally to her, and that some store clerk compliments her on her good manners.

The Garden Get-a-way.
We both loved the garden, but it was David's away place.

Do you have a “get-a-way”?

Angie Kretzschmar, Willow River, told me about her “get-a-way” last week. It’s a shed attached to her garage where she likes to sit in the summer.

She said the spot holds a bit of magic. She wrote a family history book in the summer of 1991 in her get-a-way. Writing in this comfortable spot, with birds and flowers just outside the window, and the wind blowing through the pines, the words came rushing out. She wrote her book in one week, which I find pretty amazing.

Mrs. Kretzschmar showed me The Get-a-way (it deserves to be capitalized) on March 19 during an interview on her history book. It was cold, and her writing table was gone, and I must admit I couldn’t feel the magic.

That’s fine. It’s there for Mrs. Kretzschmar. Everybody needs his or her own get-a-way. Α spot where you feel relaxed, at home, at ease, and if you’re lucky, inspired enough to write a family history.

I mentioned Mrs. Kretzschmar’s Get-a-way to a friend on March 20. She said her friend’s log cabin is her get-a-way. She is an architect, and she said she recently sat in The Cabin (it deserves to be capitalized) and drew up plans for a house in four hours. That’s fast.

I don’t have a year-round get-a-way. But for about four months every year, my get-a-way is the garden. I can almost always find peace and strength in the garden no matter how ornery and tired I am. Especially with a Twins game on the radio.