Aw, you're such a nice boy.

I was sitting in one of the big stuffed chairs near the fireplace at the local Caribou, sipping coffee when I noticed a cute young guy take the chair next to me. He hooked himself up to his ipod, opened a textbook and started to read. I continued with my crossword, when I heard "happy birthday to you, happy birthday, deeeeere Mom, happy birthday to you." Out of the corner of my eye I saw that the guy next to me was singing into his cell phone, and rather loudly at that since he was still had his earbuds attached. He visited with his mom for awhile and I smiled at him when I left because he had made my day too!

Before moving here I heard more than once about "Minnesota nice." Lately I've been basking in its many forms. I'm still amazed that there's a definite lack of road rage; in fact, most drivers will wave you ahead of them, let you in when you signal to change lanes instead of speeding up, stop for pedestrians, and generally don't drive like bats out of hell. Now, I know there are exceptions but what I've been met with when expecting a defensive stance is just a kind of aloof patience.

So, yesterday I took my first knitting class ever. I've been knitting for a long time but most of what I know came from a little booklet I bought in Woolworth's in 1966 when I had a crush on Michael Nesmith of the Monkees. I was crazy to knit a cap like he wore--not sure why, because I'd never have worn it anyway. Who knows. . .Anyway, the class was in a small new knit shop called DoubleEwe, a very comfortable place where Kelly sells colorful all-natural fiber yarns. We were going to learn how to do the illusive cable stitch. These flowers greeted us on the table and the next two hours the six of us spent laughing and stitching. More Minnesota nice! I came away with some lovely Brown Sheep Nature Spun wool called Arctic Moss to make a nifty cable scarf. I'll keep you posted.