GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

I am in the habit of listening to The Writer’s Almanac every weekday morning with my first cup of coffee. Garrison Keillor highlights important birthdays and other anniversaries and ends the broadcast by reading a poem. On Wednesday the poem was “Yard Sale”, by George Bilgere, the first line of which is “Someone is selling the Encyclopedia Britannica in all its volumes, which take up a whole card table”.

I wish that I could remember the name of the salesman that came to our basement apartment in Richfield in 1965 and refused to leave until I signed the sales agreement. For only $10 a month for three years, we could own a 30 volume set of the “Encyclopedia Britannica” and for only $1.50 more, we could get a genuine walnut bookcase to hold the set of invaluable information. He guaranteed that our children would be brilliant and success in life would be theirs if only I would sign. I held out until 11:30 PM. Today they are in the finished attic room of the Parsonage that my daughter rents from me in Upsala. By the way, my children are brilliant and cute too.

The APHC show this week is the last of the winter re-broadcasts. It is a blast of warmth originally broadcast from the Greek Theater in Los Angeles in June of 2013. Colin Hay sings “Send Somebody”, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen join the gang for a few skits, Paula Poundstone ponders life in L.A. and Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele ask “Are You Ready For A Miracle”. In the News From Lake Wobegon, high school graduation brings to mind tales of senior pranks. By the way, Paula Poundstone is coming to The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud on Saturday May 10th. Tickets at paramount arts dot org.

“No one can excel in everything. The decades demand decisions. Choose wisely. Your choices pinpoint your priorities and determine your destiny. Use it or lose it.”
Patricia Souder