Dear Readers of “Oh, Fiddlesticks,” Here comes an apology — to you as well as to the editor of the “Marshall Independent.”

On Dec. 10, 2003 I wrote what was published as my first “Oh, Fiddlesticks! Columns.” Thanks to the owners and publishers of the Marshall Independent, I have continued to have a column published every two weeks through to June, 8 2022 for the publication of column 484, just shy of twelve straight years of writing the column. Prior to the “Oh, Fiddlesticks” columns, I had written a weekly column for over 30 years called, “Holding Hands,”a column for bridge players.

Since my last “Oh, Fiddlesticks” column, I have had a month asking myself, “Why did I stop writing?” So a bit of self-analysis tells me that I had no real reason to stop. Indeed, I have missed hearing from readers regarding some of the items I have mentioned in my columns.

So, “The Apologee” is for not writing a column for the past month and this column (#485) as part of the apologee and the continuation (return) of, “Oh, Fiddlesticks!”

jtr

One of the ways I have found that helps me relax is driving the “back roads” around Marshall, mostly Lyon County roads, some paved and some gravel and just plain, dirt roads. There are a lot of such roads, some in very good condition and others maybe not so good.

Generally, I stay within the speed limits, but about two weeks ago, I slipped up on the way back into Marshall on east Minnesota 19. It just happened to be in view of one of our state law enforcement officers who clocked me at 58 mph in a 45 mph zone. Of course I had no defense and the officer properly admonished me and issued a “Complaint Summons” from the Minnesota State Patrol.

The information provided on the complaint form is concise and detailed, but also somewhat confusing indicating that I should wait to further give them time to figure out just how much I might owe.

I did wait less than the week that they suggested, but when I visited the Lyon County Court House, they had figured out what I needed to pay. The details had not included just what window or office I needed to visit so I had to inquire where to go when I got into the building.

From previous experience I knew not to enter the Courthouse from the Main Street side nor from the Sixth Street Side, entering from the “internal parking lot area.” One area I knew was where you go for renewing a license and they eventually sent me to the third floor to get my summons paid. It was not cheap. $135. That included a $10 law library fee, a $50 Highway Patrol fine and a criminal/traffic surcharge (whatever in the world that is — I didn’t ask) of $75.

An expensive lesson learned!

jtr

When I was at Hy-Vee getting a copy of the check I had written to pay that $135 fine, a reader of some of my “Oh, Fiddlesticks” columns stopped me there to comment on one of the columns and to mention how much she enjoyed reading it every other week. At the time I was still pondering whether I would quit writing or whether I was just taking a vacation. It was just that sort of interaction that I began to realize that I would miss.

As I recall, we visited about other, more mundane things, possibly about how pleased I had been about the plantings that I made both in front of my condo and in back.

In past years I had always tried to have some color both in front of the garage and off to the back. For a number of years I had experimented with geraniums, but found that they were tough to keep blooming throughout the summer. This year I had switched entirely to wave petunias. I have two bright pink wave petunia pots in the front and in the Garden by my back entrance I have planted two plots of wave purple petunias. I also have some coleus plants in individual pots – two by the front door and several next to the patio in the back.

Until next time: Oh, Fiddlesticks!