SuZan Klassen

During the coronavirus quarantine, many of us have been doing more reading. My husband and I developed a routine every morning. We read aloud to each other whatever was of interest.

I dusted off some poems I hadn’t read for a while. One morning we discussed the poem, Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. My hubby couldn’t remember it.

Of course, I couldn’t believe that. “How could you possibly have gone through school and not have been required to read it at some point?” I asked.

But then he’s a numbers guy. He still remembers the phone number for the Pizza Hut in his small college town. Priorities.

Even so, I still couldn’t believe he didn’t know the poem, so I quoted, “By the shores of Gitche Gumee . . ..”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah! I remember that one.”

I felt better knowing he at least remembered some of it.

He chuckled and reached for his phone. “But you might not like the reason I know those lines.” Quickly he pulled up the link for this old cartoon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ7D6kp8PIU

Ahh. Like many guys his age, he has a degree in cartoons.

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If you can’t remember the poem either, or if you’d like to read the original and not rely on the cartoon for accuracy, here’s a link: https://www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.php?pid=296

The statue and information commemorating the Song of Hiawatha is located at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park, 4801 S. Minnehaha Drive, Minneapolis, MN. Their website has the details and offers another photo of the falls:
https://www.nps.gov/miss/planyourvisit/minnehah.htm

Unfortunately, the park is closed due to the pandemic. You will need to visit the park website to determine its opening status: https://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

NOTES: When I first wrote this blog post, nothing tragic had hit the national news regarding Minnesota. We all know what has happened since then. Like many other bloggers, I create my posts in advance with my editorial calendar.

For the past week I debated if now was a good time for this post. But Minnesota is a lovely state full of many good people. Sometimes the news and social media give us an inaccurate or unbalanced representation. I decided to post this any way to be one voice calling attention to the good in that lovely state.

If you ever have trouble accessing a link posted on this website, please copy and paste the URL into your browser. You should have no problem then.

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We looked for humor where we could find it during the pandemic. It helped us stay sane. We have attempted to maintain a balanced mindset during the added crisis of cultural upheaval.

What activities or routines have you used to keep your sanity? Tell me about your ideas or thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time . . . Travel Light,
SuZan

© 2020 SuZan Klassen     All Rights Reserved