Minnesota Prairie Roots

Icy cold beer served up in a Minnesota Vikings mug.

ALL AFTERNOON, I’VE BEEN waiting for my husband to pour his first gotta-have-a-beer-cause-I’m-watching-football beer of the day.

Finally, at 4:06 p.m. Minnesota time, he hollers from the kitchen, asks if I want some cheese and crackers. I do. So I head for the snacks.

“Oh, good, I’ve been waiting for you to have a beer,” I say as I spot the brew in his frosty Minnesota Vikings mug. “I want to take a picture. I wish we had some good light in here.”

“Now what the heck is she going to do?” I almost can hear him thinking.

I look towards the backyard and all of that snow. “Can I take your mug outside?” I ask and grab before he answers. Outside, I stick the mug atop a snowbank. I’m aiming to show that it’s 32 degrees here in Minnesota and 68 degrees in balmy New Orleans.

Soon I’m back inside working at my computer, wondering what, exactly, to write other than “Cheers to the Vikings!”

“What kind of beer are you drinking?” I ask.

“Miss Crappie,” he says, and then suggests that I take a picture of the Lakemaid Beer bottle, with the Miss Crappie label, next to the Vikings mug. “They’re two legends.”

Two legends: Lakemaids and Vikings

I like his idea, so I’m back outside with my camera, the empty Lakemaid Beer bottle and a now nearly-empty Minnesota Vikings beer mug. I set both in the snow—the bottle signifying the legend of the freshwater mermaids and the beer signifying the legend of the Vikings. That’s as in Minnesota Vikings, the sports team, not those Scandinavian Vikings.

Now, I think I’ll go have some of that cheese and crackers and maybe a glass of wine before kick-off.

Go, Vikings!

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling