Tonight, in honor of my Minnesota connections who are dealing with the aftermath of a big snowstorm, one more Minnesota memoir, of a somewhat more recent vintage. In fact, it tells about Christmas of 1984, a day I remember quite well (see yesterday’s Memories post for the reason.) Colleen Kruse is a Minnesota radio personality and stand-up comic who is very funny, but has her serious side too. And indeed as she says, Mickey’s Diner is still there: here’s a picture. I have to admit I’ve never been.
It’s all too easy to forget the people – some well-paid, most not – who work on Christmas to deliver babies, plow snow, drive buses and taxis, and keep the convenience stores and diners open, and provide many other amenities that make our lives better. Dave Carter’s song “American Noel” won’t let us forget. It’s one of my favorites, which I first heard on the album Wonderland (issued to benefit a Western Massachusetts foodshelf program). I recently bought Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer’s album American Noel which also contains more great original songs as well as some lovely and unusual versions of more familiar carols. Either would be a great addition to your Christmas music library.
For a more child-friendly story, try Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola from my 2006 stories. The song that goes with it is “’Twas on a Night Like This,” (sometimes known as the Star Carol; the tune is the Carol of the Italian Bagpipers mentioned in the story.) You can go here for more information.
Individual Files for Mac Users
Intro Dec 12 2010 Surprise Mickey's Diner
Intro Dec 3 2006 Surprise Merry Christmas, Strega Nona
Self-Extracting Zip Files for the Rest of us
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