You’re an older resident of the NRHEG area if:
• As a male, the suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of your forehead.
• You have worn shorts and a parka at the same time.
• Vacation means going “Up Nort” for the weekend.
• You measure distance in hours.
• Going “Down South” means going to Iowa.
• Your children had a Halloween costume which fit over their snow suit.
• You think 10 degrees is “a little chilly.”
• A deer has run into your car while you’re driving the car.
• You switch from a/c to heat in June, and back again.
• You switch from a/c to heat in August, and back again.
• You wear orange deer hunting clothes to all fall social activities.
• You have security lights in your house and garage, yet to save electricity they’re not on.
• The key to your house in under the Welcome mat. (Just in case the front door is locked because you’re too lazy to walk around to the unlocked side door.
• Both spouses know how to use the jumper cables in the trunk.
• Your car battery is not under the hood, it has been stolen.
• The best Noon meal is meat, mashed potatoes with gravy, high test coffee and green or red jello.
• The conversation ends after discussing the weather.
• Every time you seee moonlight on Beaver or St. Olaf Lake, you think of a dancing bear and you begin to sing, “From the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s the beer refreshing.”
• You know there is a piece of frozen metal with bits of your tongue out there somewhere.
• You think that “Uff Da” is a well-known English phrase.
• You are treated for frostbite and sunburn from the same day being outside.
• The wedding dance band no longer has to play a polka.
• You know the difference between a gopher and a chipmunk.
• You were excused from school to help with the fall harvest.
• You know at least 10 Ole and Lena jokes.
• The area Dairy Queen was closed from November 1st to April 1st.
• The only new residents were due to marraige or new borns.
• You went to Minneapolis-St. Paul once or twice a year.
• You watched a movie while in your car.
• Roller skating rinks were very common.
• Many of the country roads were a big frost boil in the spring.
• Trains came thru daily with an engine on one end and a caboose on the other end.
• Most of your open water fishing was done from a small boat using a cane pole.
• A spare tire with an innertube was a necessity in each car.
• You know how to correctly pronounce Otisco, Waseca, Matawan and Owatonna.
• You read road signs such as “Around the curve — lickety split — beautiful car — wasn’t it? Burma Shave.
I trust the preceding were very interesting to all ages. For the younger reader not understanding something, ask an older adult — maybe grandparents. For the older adult not understanding something, ask a native of the NRHEG area that is about your age.
All the mentioned “ifs” pertain to a person about 65 years or older. The “ifs” are all “fact or fiction,” you decide.
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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. This is the Hanson’s 36th summer at Beaver Lake. They leave the lake in mid-October to go south — to Albert Lea — and return in April. Bob says if you enjoy his article, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of Wisdom: There is always room for God.