There is a recent act before Congress, taking some time away from managing masks and other mayhem, that because of the pandemic, citizens are legally bound to wildly partake, “starting but not limited to tickets and trinkets,” in all holidays that are taking place in the year 2022 for a full half-year, not just a day.
Whereas such revelry will serve a mental health purpose as it will keep people in good spirits in a time of social distancing and shutdowns. And whereas it will be an economic stimulus, as such spending has been shown to keep the lights on in places that serve said purpose. And whereas, since the makers of both wine and champagne have seen their sales go down by almost half because of climate change, and of both Russian and Ukrainian vodka have experienced a similar lack of sales, and they need like stimulus …
OK, that was an April Fool’s joke. But it does give a reason to dive into some of the fun things … stuff you can’t make up … that have been happening thus-far in said year. And tell the truth about them (although maybe embellished)!
Last night at Dick’s Bar, the burly bartended was still in a St. Patrick’s Day shirt, something about Shamrocks now continuing their growth without a spring lag because of global warming, and he acknowledged that his place is one of two locally that at times have featured a half-St. Paddy’s Day celebration, and were part of such a memorandum to Congress. And yes, he is both Irish and Polish, so whiskey is a go but not the latter’s vodka.
The frozen temps and wind chills finally got to us and continued forth in January and moving forward, like Frozen Tundra before you are ready for it to max out, because of the new cold war, since there was a Friday night where those out and about was one-third of the norm. Still, because of the Twin Cities factor, overall sales experienced a near-record volume per capita, or per Citian? The usual stalwarts were not to be seen, although their added presence might have put the record in jeopardy because of the Jag factor, but now come spring there will be more chances … More on that later.
— Another St. Patrick’s Day aside, resurrected like the coming Easter, is the 2022 lucky clover card of well, clovers, that features what I thought were the 31 days of March to patronize — read spend money like the Irish do when they can — and reap in prizes from the downtown mostly but spreading out to all of Hudson businesses. But wait, there are 39 of the Shamrocks. So the gist, I was told by a wee Irishman, is that people have added days to punch all on the card, amounting to the semi-St. Pat’s Day rolling around again, six months from now.–
Most years it has been around the 22nd when the One Block Fun Run was held, and there have been times when the glasses of water (unlike the beer that comes in later) that had to be quaffed halfway during the jaunt froze over, like the nearby St. Croix but with even thicker ice since these drinks were poured before last call the previous night. Are such plastic glasses subject to more than low temps, thus the chilling effect of wind, if filled to the rim? And at 10 a.m. on the day in question it was a mere 10 degree level and winds were well past the 10 mph threshold. Sales records still fell by ten-fold come the inside-after-party.
So for chilling out: Village Liquors had a run on NA wine immediately prior to the new year, and all that was left on the shelf was the price of a centuries-old Gallo. OK, now that’s a real mixed metaphor, but loyal readers of a like mind with HudsonWiNightlife (ouch) will get the joke.
My friend Maya, a rare sustained stalwart among local regulars, was out on New Year’s Eve, but called it quits well before the New Year was rung in, setting off a dis-similar alarm, and also a summons before Congress. Even her darkly exotic good looks could not make the scene worthwhile for her, at least on that night. And in future nights as The (young punk) Boys Were Back In Town. Now less and less.
There are still holiday light shows at residences to be seen, with many different but small pieces that come together as one, but the first and most noticeable take-down was around the garage door and house eaves by a local pastor at his parsonage. Apparently their theology does not make room for the 12 days of Christmas. But its that and sevenfold more for those avengers with cool displays that kept it up right until the ebb of winter. One such collection was of 12 small things, in a small front yard, that were spoken of (small whispers) but seldom seen, as you cross from Hudson into North Hudson.