It's September 14th and this is the best time of the year in Minnesota. After the oppressive humidity of the summer, but before the cold sets in, the air becomes just the right level of wet, just the right level of heat. It becomes as we Minnesotans describe as perfect. It is the time of year when a person can't stay inside. It is the time of year when a person can't resist the outburst, "Damn, it's a nice day!" at least three times a day.
I am sitting outside in my pocket of South Minneapolis, painting a cabinet door, drinking an IPA (the conditions are just right for this particular variety of beer), and listening to the never ending planes that fly overhead. Everyone is outside, enjoying their own form of serenity in their 20x20ft backyards. To my left, the hippies are picking the last of their harvest, passing the joints and the time behind their wall of ivy. To my right, the Mexican migrants are listening to polka and working on their trucks, drinking Modelo and chatting away in a conversation I can't understand. Occasionally, one will look up at the sky during a non-awkward conversational lapse and exclaim what can only be translated as "Damn, it's a good day!"
When lots of people are crammed into a small space, it can be seemingly hard to appreciate the peacefulness of this time of year. You can't sit alone and enjoy the stillness of September 14th in Minneapolis. We all have to enjoy it together. The polka is enhancing my evening as the smell of my jerk burgers, popping and sizzling on the grill is enhancing theirs. The city provides a different kind of serenity, the serenity of life, the serenity of people. Not having many nice days in Minnesota makes the ones we have that much better. Not having much space makes the 20x20 ft patch of grass seem like an endless pasture. All one can do it just lean back in their chair, stare at the planes flying overhead and yell over the roars and the polka with a mouth full of the sweetest corn in the world and exclaim, "Damn, it's a good day!"
1 comment:
I thought about highlighting my favorite parts and commenting on those, but there were too many. Consider the post highlighted as a whole. Damn, it's a good post.
Once in a while, late May has its advantages. But you're correct, September consistently serves up some fine Polka weather. Thanks for putting me there, too.
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