Alone Again

Alone Again

"It has been a busy week in Lake Woebegon," Garrison Keillor says each and every Saturday on his homespun show titled Prairie Home Companion. The phrase is his intro to a mythical reminisce about growing up in the Midwestern community of Lake Woebegon, "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve ... where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." We all strive to find such a place, if only for a moment.

The Old Man is alone again, naturally. The wife and daughter are off to dinner, the Old Man was left out. The son is off to college at Fort Collins, Colorado, the Old Man is forgotten. And so it is images of Lake Wobegon and Gilbert O'Sullivan's laconic lament that the Old Man is thinking of. If you want to feel sorry along with the Old Man, you can listen to Alone Again on Youtube as your read along.




Actually, it has been more than a week since the Old Man wrote on his blog. Much has transpired. There are enough stories for several blogs. And each of them is worthy of time, the Old Man thinks. Here are some of them.

The Old Man is off to Atlantis in the Bahamas fro a last and final vacation with the famdamily. As a matter of accuracy, the Old Man brings along the niece and nephew, the daughter's boyfriend, and the son's friend. It is a big group. Atlantis is a billion dollar extravaganza built on Paradise Island, opposite Nassau. The island used to be called Hog Island, but the name was changed for commercial reasons, as if one couldn't figure that out.

The contradiction in wealth between the super rich and the ordinary poor is extreme. But the Bahamians accept this, knowing that their economy depends on tourists. The Old Man is more comfortable running in Nassau, and seeing the real Bahamas. He can see a million dollar yacht in any vacation resort anywhere, but where do you have to go to see four men standing around a goat, or a food stand with conch fritters boiling in oil, four for a dollar.

After leaving Atlantis, the Old Man then returned to middle America, and then drove his son to Colorado State University at Fort Collins, Colorado. Parting is such sweet sorrow, Will Shakespeare said,but it was time for the Old Man and his son Will to part. The Old Man only hopes that his son enjoys the journey.

The daughter guilt tripped the Old Man because she had to go to Chicago and DePaul. What is wrong with Chicago?

No sooner is the Old Man back from Fort Collins, heaven on earth, then he is off to Kansas City. The Old Man and his wife have furniture stores in Wichita and Kansas City. The Old Man goes up there to get away, only to find that one never can get away from their problems.

Next, it is off to Ottawa,