Summer Love Tour 2010

Doug and I had such a treat this past September! We got to go to Garrison Keillor's Summer Love Tour in Fargo, ND, one night after work. Garrsion Keillor is the author/star of Prairie Home Companion, a Minnesota Phenomena broadcast over National Public Radio.

Fargo is 70 miles south of Grand Forks, so this was a challenging trek, after work, and then home again with work the next morning.

But that was nothing.

What was something was our "surprise" to realize that the venue was outside. Outside CAN be good. But not across from a river, at night fall, in September. Outside meant organized massings of vampire-wannabe bloodsuckers known as mosquitoes that conducted their intense campaigns against us (and me in particular.)

Until the temperature dropped. I mean, it's North Dakota! And even in this unusual fall, it meant temperatures of between 40 and 50 degrees . That's why I bought the t-shirt above to add under my very light, not-even-long-sleeved jacket, above.

And then Garrison came out. . .. . . I love his shoes!

And soon after his appearance, he rattled the audience by appearing to take a stroll. . . . away. . . fleeing from us. . . . .

But then came back to the stage, in time to take cover from the absolute downpour that drenched us to to our very . . . undies. We're North Dakotans. We're like Minnesotans, (except with all that Minnesota flamboyance sucked out of our Life Force) with huge heapings of Minnesota Nice. . . which means you'd never, ever, think about leaving the audience before the performance is over. Never mind the mosquitoes, and cold, and wind, and deluge. . . we're f.i.n.e.

And this little segment alone was worth it! I don't know if you've ever heard Prairie Home Companion, but on the radio, it's tame compared to what happens live! On the radio, you hear sound effects, but live, you see this Guy (on the left) who takes the cue from Garrison (right) and creates the sound-effects fitting the moment, adding a bit of pantomine and body language. And his version, along with Garrison Keillor, of impregnation and childbirth, was the funniest depiction I've ever seen!

Made it worth my intense anxiety about my D300s (almost) in the downpour. I wrapped it in a neoprene sleeve that Scott gave me for my birthday, wrapped all this in plastic bags, closed it up in the middle of my purse, and tucked it under my chair. Oh, how I lusted for a rain poncho or umbrella!

Later, I heard Garrison Keillor on the radio described this particular performance as his all-time favorite performance. I guess he actually appreciated all us middle-aged lemmings sitting there spell-bound in our seats, without enough sense to come in from the monsoon!