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Prairie Home

Michael Dickenson

About 20 years ago, I was standing in the check-out line of a La Jolla bookstore holding two box sets of A Prairie Home Companion cassette tapes.  I was about to drive cross country from California to Texas with 2 small children and I was looking forward to the wonderful diversion those tapes could deliver during a 20-hour drive.  When I got to the front of the line, the girl behind the counter read a portion of one of the titles out loud.

     “Lake Wobegon.  That sounds so lovely.  Where is that?” She rattled off those 3 short sentences in staccato, Valley Girl succession.

     Not wanting to go into the whole story behind the radio program, I replied simply, “Minnesota.”  A connection was instantly made; just my luck.

     “Oh, cool!  I’m attending the University of Minnesota in the fall!” she squealed as I jumped a little at the sound.  “Imagine we’re standing at the U of M entrance,” she said as she closed her eyes. “Now, how do I get to Lake Wobegon?” she whispered as she held her breath, raised her arms slightly, extended her fingers, and pointed her nose upward in some sort of reflexive response.  Too much yoga, I suspected... Article Continues Click Here