summer

Summer Vacation, Day 30: Nothing Doing

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

Managed to spend today visiting with family, reading Moby Dick, and watching Puck try to decipher the comings and goings of phantom gophers and rabbits. Guess I did make a run into Rapid City to take the boys to a great hobby shop and a nice little used book store. Got three of the remaining four books I needed for Coach’s summer reading project: Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and a solid verse translation of Homer’s The Odyssey.

Still searching for an affordable copy of McCarthy’s Blood Meridian – even used, it’s pricey. Maybe I should bag it and read Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, since it’s already on the bookshelf.

Only thing that could’ve made me feel better about the day? About a dozen pages of new fiction, written and saved. Ah, well – can’t have everything …

Summer Vacation, Day 29: An Unexpected Blessing

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Unbeknownst to me, downtown Rapid City is hosting a deeply moving and inspiring exhibit, A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People. The exhibit includes photos, videos and artifacts from Karol Wojtyla’s childhood through his papacy and death, tracing his strong ties to, and profound affection for, the Jewish people in his native Poland and throughout the world.

Jodi and I took Brendan and Gabe to see it today. It cost $5 for the family, and the tickets are good for duration of the display (through August 13). It’s very content-rich – you probably should visit it more than once to take it all in, especially the videos. Some of the video interview material from the Holocaust is a bit much for children, but it’s easily avoided. Reading aloud to the boys, my voice broke often – it’s hard to imagine such cruelty and compassion among neighbors and neighboring countries.

But the lasting message is one of peace, understanding, and common humanity that transcends race or religion. Well worth $5, my friends. The exhibit has been there since May 2, and attendance has been low. If you have the chance, go.

Summer Vacation, Day 28: The One Joke Told at the Polo All-School Reunion

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

One of the speakers at the Polo All-School Reunion on Saturday was supposedly handed this joke on the way to the stage, so he told it. In mixed South Dakota Catholic company, it went over pretty well – which should give you a feel for where we’ve been, and where we come from. It went something like this:

Seems there was this little town in South Dakota with a thriving Catholic church. In fact, everyone in the little town was Catholic, until a Lutheran moved in from Minnesota (a Norwegian bachelor farmer, Garrison Keillor might say). Every Friday evening, this fellow fired up the grill out back and grilled a venison steak for supper – which was all well and good until Lent rolled around, and the rest of the town couldn’t eat meat. Friday after Friday the aroma wafted through the neighborhood, making the Catholic mouths water, until finally the community called upon the priest to do something.

Their priest paid the young man a friendly visit and introduced him to the Catholic faith. Over the course of several visits, the priest convinced the young man to convert, then quickly tutored him, one-on-one, in the faith. When it was at last time for the man’s initiation, the priest sprinkled him with holy water, saying, “You were born Lutheran and you were raised Lutheran, but from this moment forward, you are Catholic.”

The whole town was greatly relieved – until Friday rolled around, and the aroma of grilled venison drifted through the town. Immediately, the priest rushed to his new convert’s house – then stopped short to watch as the young man drew from his pocket a vial of holy water. He removed the cap, sprinkled the water on the steak, and said, “You were born a deer, and you were raised a deer, but from this day forward … you’re a walleye!”

Summer Vacation, Day 27: Where the Heck is Gabe’s Watch, and What the Heck is a Slushie?

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We left Cowboy Bob’s mid-morning and made our way to Wall. Drove past Hubba’s House in downtown Elm Springs, snaked down through the Cheyenne River brakes north of Wasta – ever since my first trip to the Dennis Ranch, that’s among my favorite stretches of South Dakota – and rolled into Wall, where we collected roughly 20 new states’ license plates (and a couple of provinces) in the Wall Drug parking lot.

We bummed around the world-famous drug store long enough for Gabe to realize he left his nice wristwatch in the restroom an hour or more earlier. I was guessing he left it at the sink, and reminded him that it’s water-resistant, so he can leave it on when he washes.

Nope, he took it off and set it on top of the toilet paper dispenser while he was in the stall. “Why?” I asked.

He thought a moment or three. “I don’t know,” he said.

The watch wasn’t at the lost-and-found, and Gabe was fighting off tears admirably. We were about to leave when I thought, If I were an honest tourist and found that watch, I wouldn’t know where the lost-and-found was. I’d turn it in at the closest counter.

We went to the Western art shop and told the cashier what we were looking for. She said she thought they had it across the hall in the Country Store. Sure enough, there it sat behind the fudge counter. Gabe was so excited he snatched it from the hand of the young Polish gal at the cash register and nearly forgot his thank you – she was teasing him a bit, as though she had a watch but perhaps not his watch. Anyway, to remind him of his manners, I pointed out that her nametag said she was from Poland, and asked him how she he thank her. He was beaming at his watch and couldn’t remember.

“Dziekuje,” I told her.*

“Oh! Prosze!” she said.**

It was 98 degrees when we crossed the Badlands. We ate supper at a drive-in burger joint in Rapid City, and tried to explain to Trevor what a slushie is. We compared it to ice and juice, snowcones, whatever we could think of, but nothing was clicking. Finally Trevvy hit upon something that showed he hadn’t heard a word we had said. “Ooooooh!” he said. “Just like when you flush a toilet!”

Yes, my son. We are having Flushies for dessert. On second thought, let’s have floats.***

Now we’re at Grandma and Grandpa Venjohns’ place. It’s late. Sweet dreams!

* * * * *

* Pronouced “jeen-KOO-ya” – Polish for Thank you.
** Pronounced “PRO-sha” – Polish for both Please and You’re welcome.
*** Come to think of it, in this context, floats sound disgusting, too.

Summer Vacation, Day 26: Good Friends and Beer (Belated)

/ J. Thorp / 5 Comments

For Sunday: Spent yesterday and this morning (including right now) at Cowboy Bob’s, aka Jinglebob’s or a Dennis Ranch. Guitars, dobro, harmonica, and many (many) good beers – Bass, Blue Moon, Guinness, Moose Drool, Sam Adams Summer Ale. Got to meet Hubba, visit with Deacon Tyler, and meet a number of other friends and good people from the blogosphere.

Sure was a good time, and I loved meeting all of you folks. Kids are hunting frogs and turtles with Deacon Tyler. Gotta get packed up now – headed to Wall Drug (where Jode and I met) and the Badlands.