Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegone got one thing right, all the women are strong. When ICE came to town, we amplified our strength by leveraging our white privilege.
TeriLeigh, “almost” becomes cultural evidence in this introduction. The avocado fridge, dish towels, radio voice, pie dough, fireflies, and church-on-vacation details are the formation system: restraint, emotional understatement, mutual noticing, and the quiet coordination women practiced for years. When ICE arrives, the old fluency changes purpose; privilege stops hiding inside politeness and becomes public protection for people placed at risk. Grateful for the way you let Lake Wobegon become memory, indictment, and a doorway into fierce communal action.
Jill, as a writer I know you know this feeling. You write something and you ask yourself “where in the deep wells of my history, ancestry, and memory banks did this come from?”
when the word “almost” emerged in this excerpt, it became its own character…the embodiment of all Minnesota women who over-pronounce our Ohs.
and yes, al-mooohst, did shape so much for us for a very long time, and that’s changing now.
I buried myself in GK’s sweet words, imagining a life like that. But reality rides in rough and loud in the middle of the night when we least expect it. You framed it perfectly here. Makes me think of childhood hide and seek: Ready or not, here I come! Ready.
This took me back to every Saturday evening from 6-8, when the radio was turned on and we listened to GK's Prairie Home Companion, where the women are strong...
The strong women of Minnesota sure turned up this past winter.
I love this! "And we white women tossed the almost into the trash like an over-burnt pie." Thank you.
We are ALL IN on making this world a better place. not almost, but ALL WAYS!
TeriLeigh, “almost” becomes cultural evidence in this introduction. The avocado fridge, dish towels, radio voice, pie dough, fireflies, and church-on-vacation details are the formation system: restraint, emotional understatement, mutual noticing, and the quiet coordination women practiced for years. When ICE arrives, the old fluency changes purpose; privilege stops hiding inside politeness and becomes public protection for people placed at risk. Grateful for the way you let Lake Wobegon become memory, indictment, and a doorway into fierce communal action.
Almost.
You drew my attention to that six letter word and how often I use it (with my Minnesota accent). Good observations about how that word shapes things.
Jill, as a writer I know you know this feeling. You write something and you ask yourself “where in the deep wells of my history, ancestry, and memory banks did this come from?”
when the word “almost” emerged in this excerpt, it became its own character…the embodiment of all Minnesota women who over-pronounce our Ohs.
and yes, al-mooohst, did shape so much for us for a very long time, and that’s changing now.
OMG - this took me back to my childhood in MN. "Almost" is so perfect. Thank you.
what I love is that none of us are settling for almost anymore. ever. that’s our new normal.
I buried myself in GK’s sweet words, imagining a life like that. But reality rides in rough and loud in the middle of the night when we least expect it. You framed it perfectly here. Makes me think of childhood hide and seek: Ready or not, here I come! Ready.
Love this!
This took me back to every Saturday evening from 6-8, when the radio was turned on and we listened to GK's Prairie Home Companion, where the women are strong...
The strong women of Minnesota sure turned up this past winter.