January 8, 2010
January 8th, 2010 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
I celebrated my seventh birthday in Vienna, Austria. I was an army brat. Dad served in the navy during the war and later he joined the army. In 1950 he was a Sergeant in the 5th Army stationed in Vienna. As “dependents” we were housed in an apartment building that was quite nice. There were two marble faced fireplaces and a baby grand piano along with a crystal chandelier in the dining room. I ran with a group of other army brats and I was the oldest in the group. One day in February we were hanging out in front of the large estate on the corner next to our apartment. One of the kids put his hand in the fence opening and a dog took his mitten. I bravely offered to go through the gate and recover the mitten. I still remember starting my walk across the large yard toward the two “Boxers”. They greeted me by jumping up and knocking me to the ground. They proceeded to chew on my arms and legs until an Austrian man who we referred to as the “fireman”, (he took care of the furnace in our apartment building) came in and pulled the dogs off of me. I walked home and my mother fainted when she opened the door. I spent about 6 weeks in the army hospital. It took me a while to get over my fear of dogs. The occupant of the estate was a Colonel in the army and they gave me a new winter coat.
The show this week is live from The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Special guests include celebrated Met Opera tenor Raul Melo and a bright shining star of modern bluegrass, Sara Watkins. The usual cast of characters will be providing a variety show worth tuning in for.
Also, The Parkwood 18 Movie Theater in Waite Park will be showing a live HD broadcast of an APHC show at 7 PM on Thursday February 4th. I picked up my tickets last night. Get your tickets early. Plan to dine early at Anton’s next door and make a night of it.
“Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” From The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Category : General 