Beautiful Ohio, "Where All the Women Are Strong..."

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T'ain't nothing better for a weary soul than to be alongside the banks of the mighty Ohio on a misty summer's evening. It's a beautiful stretch of waterway out by Old Coney where the river bends its path through the hills of southern Ohio overlooking Kentucky.

We went last night to see a group of our most favorite people--Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion show. Many jokes about flying pigs, beer, and our famous "Cincinnati Chili"--make mine a 4-way, please. Billy Collins was there on stage reading from his newest book of poetry, Ballistics, we heard the latest adventures of Guy Noir, private eye, and all the happenings in Lake Wobegon.



We sang The Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace. We heard opera and harmonica solos and a couple of singer/songwriters from the deserts of Australia while the breeze brought to us smells of newly cut grass and honeysuckle.

If you have a chance to hear the program on NPR today Hubby and I are the ones whooping and whistling. We do love our National Public Radio.



please note: music by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson

Comments

  1. Batteson.IndJune 14, 2009 at 3:54 AM

    Sounds like you had a ball! weekends doing stuff is just perfect! cheers for sharing your moments :-)

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  2. GailJune 14, 2009 at 5:42 AM

    Your first paragraph caught me and won't let me go!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cheryl CatoJune 14, 2009 at 6:44 AM

    I will make a POINT of listening today. We get it on Saturday at 5 PM and a repeat today at 1 PM. We were just pulling into the driveway yesterday afternoon when it came on and didn't have time to listen once we came inside the house. I'll listen for your whoops!

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  4. RudeeJune 14, 2009 at 7:03 AM

    It sounds like a perfect night. You deserve that.

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  5. jackc50June 14, 2009 at 8:38 AM

    sounds lovely......your headline reminded me of a t-shirt i saw in provincetown last summer....''provincetown:where the women are strong and the men are pretty'' take good care, jc

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  6. UnknownJune 14, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    It comes from the tagline of the show about Lake Wobegon--"where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

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  7. La FraméricaineJune 14, 2009 at 1:47 PM

    Sounds like an absolutely wonderful evening! Good for all of you.

    Your description of the Ohio with Kentucky overlooking reminded me of the one and only ancestor that I had from Ohio who fathered my mamma's mamma and the multitudes who came from Kentucky and settled in Arkansas.

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  8. NanceJune 14, 2009 at 5:40 PM

    You know, I love to READ Garrison Keillor. His writing is absolutely astonishing. I catch his small articles here and there: Salon, etc. A lot of people tend to think he's all small town prairie type stuff, but he's incredibly insightful and brilliant. What a terrific time you must have had. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. KathleenJune 14, 2009 at 7:44 PM

    Ha!

    I heard the ole coot yesterday on the radio and got tickled when he said he was in Cincinnati (the town the rest of us overlook because we don't know how to spell it!) because I thought to myself, "Distracted by Shiny Objects" just HAS to be there. Then I worried you were on one of your long shifts. So I'm much relieved to hear you made it!

    Garrison really is quintessential Minnesota. I love being one of the strong women and having above-average children and a good-looking hubby -- even if not a one of us was born here!

    If you're ever in the the Twin Cities when he's at the Fitz, you have to catch a show and see Tom Keith, his sound effects guy when he's in town. He's a riot!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. KathleenJune 14, 2009 at 7:45 PM

    Oh, and did you take that photo? It's beautiful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Viewtiful_JustinJune 15, 2009 at 6:29 AM

    That's so amazing! I am in awe and a little jealous of you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. OwenJune 15, 2009 at 7:53 AM

    What a lucky Magpie you are ! I don't think I've had goosebumps and shivers over a piece of music like Chambers and Nicholson's song here since maybe the first time I heard "Find the Cost of Freedom" by CS&N; an unusually good version of which can be seen and heard here, with Crosby & Nash, and oddly enough, with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd renown :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Y0SMitMpk

    Anyway, sounds like a great night, Mr Toad would have been whooping and hollering right along with you !

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deanna Bland Hiott PhD, MSN, RNJune 15, 2009 at 2:38 PM

    Beautiful words, beautiful pictures...

    ReplyDelete
  14. LydiaJune 17, 2009 at 12:17 AM

    Love the photo of the river.
    Hey, this brings back great memories! My husband and I saw Keillor and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet at the Oregon State Fair on our anniversary....hmm five years ago I think. We sat in the front row and it was great, he was great.

    I think Garrison Keillor is very sexy. I even wrote about that in one of my old journals decades ago after seeing him on a PBS special after having only heard him (that's still the best, tho) on the radio.

    ReplyDelete

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