DEAR READERS,
After much thoughtful consideration, I have decided to stop blogging. This writing endeavor is sucking up too much of my time for little no pay.
OK, if your heart skipped a beat there for a moment, good. If you panicked at the thought of missing your daily dose of Minnesota Prairie Roots, good. If you wonder what prompted this decision, good.
Stop. You needn’t worry. That first paragraph is an absolute falsehood/lie/lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke.
I could no more stop blogging than I could cut off my hand.
So you are stuck with me and my writing. I have no intentions of closing up shop at this blog.
Why do I keep doing this day after day when I’m not earning a nickel penny from publishing here at Minnesota Prairie Roots? (OK, sometimes my blogs end up revamped as articles published, for pay, in magazines.)
I blog because I “have to.” I love language and writing and telling a good story and sharing my thoughts that much. Think about the single thing that is your passion in life and you will understand mine. Writing.
Clearly, trying to pull off a joke on April Fool’s Day, and most any day, is not my talent. I am too honest to continue a charade for more than two sentences.
Even as a child, I struggled to, with a straight face, attempt an April Fool’s joke. My siblings failed to believe “The school bus is here” or “Your toast is burning.” I could have thought of something more creative like “The cows are out.”
Or I could have been really, absolutely, undeniably creative like my cousin Jeff, the mayor of Floodwood, who 21 years ago today announced in an announcement mailed to his unsuspecting parents that he had gotten married. He hadn’t married a northwoods woman. Let me tell you, that fib didn’t go over too well with the parents. I think they laugh about that April Fool’s joke now. Maybe.
How about you? Have you pulled off the ultimate April Fool’s joke. I’d like to hear your stories. Submit a comment. We’d all like a laugh or three on this gloomy Friday morning in Minnesota with snow in the forecast for the weekend. And that’s no April Fool’s joke.
© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Still the very best April Fool’s joke to date for our family is the wedding announcement from my brother Jeff and his “bride” Janet and her two daughters Amber and Heidi 20 years ago. This mailed message prompted a phone call from my mother to the school I was teaching to find out if I had received one too (I didn’t get mail until I got home at the end of the day) and to figure out “what we were going to do.”
The worst thing is, we have not been able to get him back thus far. But, we are still waiting for a perfect opportunity, so he better be on his toes.
Yeah, Dawn, it would be tough to top the fake marriage announcement. That is now the stuff of family legends. As I recall, didn’t you and Aunt Marilyn already have the wedding reception semi-planned before discovering Jeff had pulled the biggest April Fool’s joke ever on his unsuspecting family?
If you top Jeff’s prank I want to know.
Called two of our younger siblings this am and told them the cows are out!!Both had to laugh, even though it’s lame and we’ve been doing it for years
Honestly, they didn’t believe the cows were out? You better believe when Dad said, “The cows are out,” we jumped.
Well thank you for the mini heart attack. *lol*
Long before we got married, we told everyone we eloped at the courthouse here in Montana. His mom was fine with it. My mom was annoyed we did and she was not there, but happy. My Auntie Jack was ticked! She was so angry because I’m her favorite niece and she wanted to be at my wedding. She started to cry and ramble on about a reception and so on. It took me about 20 minutes to get her calmed down enough for her to realize it was April Fools. That was the best ever. *lol*
Now, I’m seeing some common threads here in your elopement story and my cousin’s. I believe Jeff and his northwoods bride eloped to the courthouse in Duluth. Now, that would be your hometown. Is there something in the water up north that makes residents pull April Fool’s pranks that involve marriages? I believe your aunt was as angry as my aunt. And the planning the reception and trying to calm her down. Sounds just like my cousin Jeff trying to calm his parents…
Hey, I don’t have any good April Fool’s jokes, but I do enjoy fooling people today! I am from northern Minnesota, the Iron Range-Aurora AND that my first cousin is the mayor of Cromwell!!! (My daughter “got me” right away this morning, for April Fool’s and me and my grandson “got” grandpa then!!!)
Well, Vicki, I expect my cousin Jeff, the mayor of Floodwood, knows your cousin, the mayor of Cromwell since the towns are fairly close.
Now, what joke was played on you this morning and what joke did you and your grandson play on grandpa.
I love when kids play April Fool’s Day jokes. To them the simplest “thing” can be so funny.
I don’t know if Amber mentioned this to you, but according to her FB, she believed you had actually given up blogging. Ha ha ha!
No, Miranda, I did not know this. Hmmmm…, maybe I should think about going on Facebook…
For the record, I have no plans to stop blogging. None.
I enjoyed your April Fool’s joke. This year the day slipped by without an attempt by Nancy or me to spring one on each other. That is strange. On the other hand, we pull stuff on each other daily. My dad pulled a good one on me when i was about 12. He convinced me to crawl up the silo chute to get the wrench he said he had left hanging on one of the doors. As I climbed I kept asking “How much farther?” and he would say, “Just one more door.” Finally he yelled “April Fool!” I was mad at him at first, but by the time I climbed down I was laughing.
That’s more original than saying, “The cows are out!” Sounds like your dad had a wonderful sense of humor, at least on April Fool’s Day. Thanks for sharing your story, Gordon.