Relatives in Minnesota

For some portion of our last two winter trips, we have travelled with relatives from Minnesota. We get along well which is important when sharing a motel room or a camper. No worrying about splitting the bill when we eat. No complaints about my penchant for hanging out in coffee shops rather than shopping. No discussions of political issues. We get along well and this makes for a more relaxing time for all.

Well, there is one thing. I write a lot and this has long been the case. Back in 1997, I was working on my second book which focused on the potential of the Internet in K-12 education. I often use examples from classroom teachers we know or from our own experiences to illustrate key ideas in our writing. The Internet was fairly new to many people in 1997 and I was explaining how many different ways we had used the Internet when the entire community of Grand Forks, ND, was flooded in 1997. Many people have experienced devastating floods, but few people have been through a flood that required an entire city to evacuate. Anyway, we offered examples both leading up to the evacuation and afterwards of how we communicated and shared experiences. The big problem resulted from one simple sentence from this multi-page description. Instead of naming names, I simply said that we evacuated from Grand Forks to stay with some relatives in Northeast Minnesota and we continued to work with our North Dakota colleagues from there. Naming names was evidently what was expected and "some relatives" did not provide enough information.

Okay, Scott and Denise - here is my effort to make up for my oversight. I am guessing that 20 or so people will read this and this will be far short (I think) of the number of people who read the book, but I hope a specific mention here will somewhat compensate for my unintended oversight all of those years ago. Let it go!

What brought this issue to mind occurred in a fairly random way. Obviously, many topics I write about are fairly random. Cindy and I (Cindy is my wife and writing partner so I want to make sure no one else is slighted by vague personal references I might accidently use). We realized that while we were in Texas we had yet to have any of the barbecue Texans promote so loudly. We asked around and using the recommendations we received made our way to Rudy's in Brownsville. The recommendations were quite accurate. I have eaten at the "Salt Lick" outside of Austin several times and know this place is supposed to be among the best. Rudy's could easily compete.

So what does our meal at Rudy's have to do with SCOTT and DENISE. Well, while we do not argue about paying for meals we have together, we do have to make concessions to the sensitivity of the relatives from Minnesota (previously named). I remember one of the first times we took them to a "Mexican" restuarant. Remembering is not a problem - I am reminded often. The food was claimed to be "spiced up" to the point of being uneatable. I don't have my wife's taste for what I consider spicy foods, but at least I enjoy salsa and the hint of a pepper in BBQ sauces or rubs. If you don't want to eat curries with Cindy, at least try some salsa on your scrambled eggs or macaroni and cheese.

So, Scott and Denise, I think Rudy has the solution for your sensitivity. Each table comes with large bottles of BBQ sauce. There is a traditional sauce - sweet and just a little spicy. And then there is a second bottle just for those Minnesotans who like it bland.