The Minnesota Farm Woman

Politics ain’t worrying this country one-tenth as much as where to find a parking space.

~Will Rogers

I am happily ensconced in the country life of our little farm in Bowstring, Minnesota (population 235). I suspect the census-taker may have counted a few chickens to get to a number that high. Last week, I travelled to the big city of Duluth (population 86,238 without counting any chickens)for an appointment. I always enjoy taking friends along with me for the ride, both for the good company and because I usually can’t find my way out of a wet paper bag, even in a smallish city like Duluth. For this trip, I had to find my way around the large medical center area which is surrounded by road construction and two new parking garages. My best friend went along with me, not so much because she wanted to, but because she was driving. We have been friends for 51 years, since I was in the first grade and she was in the second. A friendship of 51 years is kind of like a long marriage, except you get along better. I will readily admit that her sense of direction is better than mine, but only slightly. If we get a little bit lost on any of our excursions, we prefer to say we are “on another adventure” rather than “where in the HECK are we?”. She had already turned where I told her not to turn, but it was pure luck that the wrong turn wasn’t wrong after all and surprisingly (and luckily) took us right into the new parking structure, after a brief but confusing conversation of “Turn left right here” “HERE?” “Right.” “Turn right?” “No, LEFT!” “Left turn?” “Right.” That turn brought us smack-dab into Green Ramp Level P3. Personally, I think it would be much better if they used the Disney World method of cartoon characters instead of colors and numbers, because it is hard to remember things like Green Ramp Level P3. It would be much better to use, for example, signs printed with the pictures characters such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Sneezy Level could be for allergies, ears nose, and throat. Sleepy Level would be great for the Anesthesia and Surgical Services. Doc Level could be physicians’ parking area. Grumpy Level could fit any number of people. I personally know someone who could probably get a year’s worth of free Grumpy Level parking, but enough about HIM. I could drive up the Dopey Level Ramp and never forget where I parked. I took a picture of the Green Ramp Level P3 sign because I just knew I would never remember. All went well until we needed to get back to our car after the appointment, riding an elevator that opened on two separate wings and riding up and down until we remembered that we were on Green Ramp Level P3 and not Green Ramp Level P1. Of course, I had forgotten that I had taken a picture. Pretty dopey, I know. I was more than happy to be done with that ordeal and on to the real reason and Farm Woman leaves the country and goes to the city: Shopping and lunch.