Give a bunch of Minnesotans some 40 degree temperatures at the beginning of March and it's sheer pandemonium.
Groundhogs dancing in the streets,
the Lion wearing a lampshade on his head
the Lion wearing a lampshade on his head
while the Lamb does a striptease . . .
Because who would want to be wearing all that wool?
It's 40 degrees!
Our local weather person's babbling was so giddy during her forecast last night, she was almost incoherent. It could have been the sheer joy of being alive, as she narrowly escaped being hit by an avalanche of snow and ice that slid off the roof during a melty broadcast earlier in the day.
(Minnesota meterologists forecast the weather from OUTSIDE. It's a pride thing.)
I did have to wonder why (when it was 20 degrees this morning) I was only wearing a sweater to the grocery store despite my raging cold . . . but my heavy coat had migrated to the bottom of the coat rack, now piled high with hoodies and polar fleece jackets.
It only takes a couple of minutes of sun on the face for a Minnesotan to declare independence and once it's happened, there's no turning back.
(Even if it means intense suffering, which it probably will sometime next week. Hey, it's March.)
It made me think of the Northern Exposure episode "Spring Break"
in which the ice starts to break up and the inhabitants of Cicely go berserk.
Ed Chigliak: Somebody stole Dr. Fleischman's radio.
Marilyn Whirlwind: White people. They get crazy.
And it doesn't get any whiter than Minnesota.
Ruth-Anne Miller: Here's your lingerie magazine. I was just leafing through it.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Thanks.
Ruth-Anne Miller: Oh, wait a minute. Uh, you're using that for onanistic purposes, huh?
Dr. Joel Fleischman: What? What kind of purposes?
Ruth-Anne Miller: Auto-erotic.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Me? No Not at all. Absolutely not! I was just going to order my mom a robe.
[flustered]
Ruth-Anne Miller: I think you need something a little more exciting.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Exciting?
Ruth-Anne Miller: Here's a Playboy. Eli Nute died a month before his subscription expired.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Oh no. Really?
[trying not to look interested in the Playboy]
Ruth-Anne Miller: Women of Norway.
[reading the caption]
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Yeah well, I mean a lot of exceptional writers contribute to Playboy. There's Philip Roth, uh, Norman Mailer, the late Roald Dahl. An interview with Shintaro Ishihara?
Ruth-Anne Miller: Don't worry Dr. Fleishmann, its that time of year. Everybody's libido has run amok.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: They rate the top ten single malt scotches! Now I, uh, wanna read this!
The episode culminates with the running of the bulls through the streets of Cicely,
only (if you remember)
they aren't bulls.
only (if you remember)
they aren't bulls.
Let me just say that here in Apple Valley, nothing would surprise me.
We go a little nuts around this time of year.
I saw kids in shorts yesterday!
And I was glad they had the mental faculties to keep those on.
Another reason for the old adage, "Never make any life-changing decisions in Minnesota in March."
Or April, for that matter.
But if you want to take off your clothes and run naked down the street as a means of expressing your 40 degree jubilation, go for it.
Maybe I'll join you.
(once my cold clears up, that is . . . uh, can we wait until it's 50 degrees?)
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5 comments:
Ha - I'll hang onto my winter coat a little longer, I think! I must have Southern blood in my system, I'll be freezing through April.
Thanks for a blast from fave TV shows past! But how do you remember all that? I loved NE, but can't nearly even remember all the characters' names anymore.
(But then, I always have to do the math to figure out how old I am now too.)
Sending springy green thoughts your way.
NE is one of my favorite treadmill companions, so I remembered the episode well (having seen it many times) . . . as for the dialogue, you'd be surprised what a 5 second google search will do for you!
My memory? Hah! Even a 5 hour search of my memory doesn't turn up that much info.
One of my all time fav shows: Northern Exposure. Loved the look back.
I went to St.Paul once in Dec. It was 10 degrees (and I have no idea what the wind chill was since we don't count wind chill here) but I saw people in shorts and short sleeves while walking into the Mall of America.
In CA anything under 55 is still woolen sweater weather.
Ya'll live in a strange land of cold and ice and it's hard to imagine that people live in that when they aren't in a tv show.
I tip my hat!
Hi, VO -- nice to hear from you! I think Northern Exposure may still be the best thing that's ever been on American television. Smart, funny show.
As for Minnesotans (bless their hearts) I just have to believe that many of them truly don't realize there are some places that have better weather than this. It's the only explanation I can come up with for why so many people stay here. Me? Just biding my time . . .
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