Showing posts with label Midwest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midwest. Show all posts

Saturday 3 May 2014

A little feel of Denmark from a legend



I have been a huge fan of A Prairie Home Companion since childhood. The radio show was played on Saturday mornings on an Irish station, and my dad and I would listen, laugh, and sing along as I went about my Saturday extra curriculars; first gymnastics, then on to drama and ballet (I was a busy child). Garrison Keillor's warm voice is reminiscent for me of the safety net of childhood, of car rides on Saturdays, of that pre-adolescent security, when the world briefly made sense.

Lake Woebegone

I had a Canadian guest staying last week, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out we were both familiar with the wonderful world of Lake Woebegone, 'where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Even better than that, he told me about an excellent article written by Garrison Keillor from National Geographic, available on his website here. The article itself is from 1998, but all of his comments about Copenhagen and Denmark more generally are still so relevant. A wonderful, heartfelt piece of writing by someone who really understands and admires Denmark, which is funny and eternally true for a foreigner living here.

Please read it, I cannot recommend it enough! It may even bring a tear to your eye, if you are one who is as sentimental as I am.

While you're at it, if you're not familiar with A Prairie Home Companion, spend some time on the website listening to stories and songs about "the little town that time forgot, and the decades cannot improve."  The humour and sensibilities of a fake Midwestern town have never been so entertaining.