|
Who Am I? | Site Map | Music | FAQ | Contact Me |
 An Old Friend in Minnesooooda I pulled into Minneapolis late that night, but Mark and Jayne had stayed up waiting for me and greeted me with tired smiles. Mark is one of my oldest and best friends. We met in seventh grade while debating the upcoming Nixon-McGovern election each day during lunch period in junior high school in California. McGovern fared as poorly in that election as I did in the debates, but Mark and I became good friends nonetheless and still love talking about politics.
Throughout high school, Mark, I, and and a few other friends (including Troy and Carole, see News: June 14, 2001) played endless games of poker, Monopoly, and Risk and engaged in immature and ill-conceived pranks that I won't delve into here. We also played a lot of sports and every Friday afternoon, we invaded the local bowling alley and harassed the ill-tempered, red-haired woman at the counter, whom we ingeniously dubbed "Big Red" before bowling a few games. Mark and I also worked on our high school's newspaper, which we both agree was the highlight of our high school experience. That tells you something about our high school experience.
After college, Mark moved back to his home state of Minnesota and met a wonderful woman there named Jayne, who had attended the University of Wisconsin and therefore possessed a superior intellect. Jayne comes from a huge family and, as you walk around Mark and Jayne's house, you'll trip over hundreds of framed pictures of close relatives, distant relatives, and total strangers. But seriously, it's nice to see someone who appreciates family as much as Jayne does (take the hint, Mark). Jayne also loves cats while Mark has a "Cat Free Zone" sign posted on the door of his den. They're a great couple and are fun to be around, and their two kids are also lots of fun.
And being from the upper Midwest, they both speak with a Minnesota accent. I've mentioned this before, but I'm constantly fascinated by the accents found in the different parts of the country and have fun trying to guess where a person is from, just by hearing them speak. So far on this trip, I've dealt with the Cajun accent of Louziana, all the "y'alls" I could handle in Tennessee, and the spoons and "focks" of New England. Of course, now that I was in Minnesota, I had to adjust to the Midwestern accent, which is totally different.
Back in New England they have trouble with the letter "R," like those "caahs being pawked faa away." But here in the Midwest they do funny things to the letter "A," often adding an "E" in front of it.
For instance, a "chair" in the Midwest is actually a "chear" – or even a "cheer" in Illinois. And a "salad" is actually a "see-alad." And here in Minnesota, they tend to draw out the letter "O" so it's pronounced "Minnesooooda," while a simple "no" turns into the much more-involved "noooooh." As you move into northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, the Canadian influence becomes apparent and they start tacking on an "eh?" to the end of every sentence, whether it needs it or not. "So where ya from, eh?" Of course, us folks out in Oregon don't speak with any kind of accent – it's everyone else in America who talks funny.
Along with chuckling over the Midwestern accent during my wonderful four-day stay at Mark's house, I got to visit with his parents, Doug and Kay, whom I hadn't seen in 24 years when Mark and I lived in California. During our conversation, I learned that Doug, by sheer coincidence, had once dated my mother's cousin in North Dakota back in the 1940s. Considering that I didn't meet Mark or his family until the 1970s (and that was in California, where we all lived), I found this to be totally amazing. Of course, if Doug had married her, Mark would be my second cousin. And with that sobering thought, I left Minneapolis and headed west.
Above left: Don't those steaks look gooood? Above right: Riding on the freeways of Minneapolis. Eh?
Above left: Here are a couple of old photos. This is Mark and Jayne during my visit in 1995 shortly after they met. Above right: Mark's car got pummeled a few years ago during a hailstorm, which are common in the Midwest. Here's his pock-marked roof. But like a good neighbor, State Farm was there.
|
