28 More Days before I leave for Wisconsin and "The Lake"

Lesson 4 in How To Talk Minnesotan....A Visitor's Guide deals with conversation.

"If you are called upon to start a converstion from a dead stop in Minnesota you should know that 35% of our conversations deal with the weather, 30% with cars, 15% with food, 10% with road and building construction, 9% with fishing, 1% with politics and religion, and 1% with all the rest."

Weather is very important in Minnesota. My husband watches over the weather religiously. Total silence is required in our household when the weatherman comes on the TV, even if we have people over and everyone is talking about the never-ending road construction going on out on 35W or about that new stadium going in downtown. Grey clouds don't even have to start to form on the horizon and my husband has got the TV weather channel on, he's checking the weather radar on the computer, and he's got a flashlight with fresh batteries sitting ready by his side. People in Minnesota know their weather. There can be blue skies but we know it's going to rain or storm by the "feel" in the air, the way the leaves are blowing in the trees, by the smell. The fish start really biting. I mean they actually commit suicide on your line. You know for sure it's going to rain if that happens. Of course, after a big storm, nothing bites, that's why you see so many idiots out there on the lake in boats, begging to be hit by lightening. And it always seems to rain on the weekend. I suppose that's because so many people wash their cars on the weekend. Of course, it may be because of all those outdoor barbeques that people plan for the weekends. Beer, bratwurst, beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and don't forget that jello salad with the tiny marshmallows all served on dinky inadequate paper plates with "yellow jackets" (wasps) buzzing around your head while you all discuss things like.....the weather and whether we're going to get more rain, cars, the food, the road construction that you just went through on your way to this cookout, fishing, and taxes.