such a tease

So a week ago last Sunday my friend Brenda and I had quite the day of culture in Northern Minnesota. First up, Bigfork and the Edge Center for the Arts.

Did anyone else watch Lou Grant? Not Lou Grant that was Mary Tyler Moore's boss who used to stash a bottle in his desk and told Mary he hated spunk, but Lou Grant the hard hitting newspaperman. I seem to remember having a crush on Joe Rossi, that reporter who always got to the bottom of everything. And then there was Mrs. Pynchon, who later became Tony Soprano's mother. And there was someone else on that show. Linda Kelsey. That tiny fiery red headed reporter. Well a week ago Sunday, I saw her in Bigfork, Minnesota, putting on a one woman show about Emily Dickinson called "The Belle of Amherst".

Okay you big city folks, stop your laughing. This was no Waiting for Guffman. She was GOOD. I mean realgood!

In this little town, in a beautiful little theater, this tiny woman lit up the stage as Emily Dickinson. Really, she did. Did you know Emily wore only white? And that she dated married men? It was also exciting for me that the final poem she recited was the only poem I have ever memorized (partially at that) "Because I could not stop for death".

After the show, we were hungry, and since nothing was open in Bigfork, we decided to make our way north, to the booming town of Effie, Minnesota. Our friends own and operate the Neighborhood Tavern there, and it just happened to be the Jugband Boogie weekend.

More later...