140/365 Kate T-B

Much later, you appeared on the scene, intriguing
David, diverting his attention from Aristotle. As topic
of office conversation, you stood out as one of only
a few things he needed help with. Now, three years
into a marriage, you two are complements, healthy halves,
satisfactorily partnered for the duration.

139/365 Thomas

My first encounter with the phenomenal
speed of schizophrenia, you shared stories
of dream commands, boyfriends, light-and-dark.

Your intensity and generosity working for this year's
Pride Committee, serving as President for Q&S, then VP
to give another friend a chance.

Brilliant thinker, whippet metabolism,
Facebook friends times two: Accept!

138/365 Megan

End of the block lives a
neighbor who's the only one
my house's seller said I'd
like: he was right, we've met,
but don't know each other well.
Wild garden patio, boulevard full of
day lilies, at least three
dogs, white jeep, floppy-hatted big
grin: all good signs.

137/365 Gail

Florida escapee, temporary Minnesotan, leaf-loving
grad student, you introduced Rhetoric by taking me
to breakfast: gossip and coffee for "studying."

Reading/channelling Ellen Swallow Richards, you loved
your students as Quintilian demands, playing Mom to
undergrads, younger officemates, MA students.

Excellent grandma, your retirement's
well-deserved and designed: Bob's too.

136/365 Renee

You, pregnant, the reason I moved from
alternate to regular on the basketball
cheerleading squad: oldest sister of
my best friend, knower of all things
construction-papered, wool, saddle-shoed.

Your high school wedding's lasted these 35 years,
more than most, pillars of the community, parents
of four noticably-named next-generation citizens.

135/365 Sam&Darla

Moms of daughter Noa with guts, attitude, brains
-- all three of you, trinity of powerful
female energy, ready to remake the world.

I like your politics, your pastries, your
easy way with books, bare-wood floors, baby
germs, potlucks, garden parties, friends.

More conversations on the patio soon?

134/365 Tracy M

Ate one-and-then-another of my tomato sandwiches
21 years ago, in a kitchen the size of a minivan.
Gave me, pregnant, and toddler rides
to preschool when Honda was crashed.
Flirted with Josh's father over spaghetti
dinner I made to repay your kindnesses.
Live with your daughter, my friend.

133/365 Tracy A

"Sharing" your fries with me became habitual.
Now we each order, joking over drinks, rehashing the game.

Strong utility player, you're best where
ever you're needed: second, third, short-fielder,
bench-warmer with springy step.

Some say tattoos, motorcycle, baggy-jeans hide
a tender-hearted listener, but I'd say it's all visible.

132/365 Daniel K

"I'm aiming for a B," says the lazy student,
The Disappointment of this semester, quick to
fan flames of intellectual curiosity
yet can't sustain interest: why?

Merely masculine bravado?
Misplaced Electra complex?
Achieved Peter principle?
Emperor's-New-Clothes anxiety?
Simple stupidity?

Yet he teaches high school English:
discrediting our profession.

131/365 Karla&Lill

Surprising pair of quirky lovers,
lovely quirkers, lovers of quirk

Regular hosts of patio potlucks
open-door generosity of the
rarest kind: friends appear
everywhere, anywhere, new and old, known
and unknown, single and multiple

Eccentric humor, basketball fans, card-and-table
games with a crowd (and a nice red wine)

130/365 Carl

Worker bee who
needs the hive
despite your claim
to hate and/or
merely tolerate
committees
groups
meetings
parties
swarms . . .

You need your
role as inside/outsider
fulfiller-of-duties
because you've said
you'd do so,
so you do:
not as drone, as
worker bee
paper wasp
necessary agent
for institutional cohesion

129/365 Bertha

Known as Birdie, mother to my grandma
Florence, older sisters Myrtle,
Dorothy, brother Arlo;
don't forget husband Arthur.

Arched eyebrows, half-moon smiles, button-black eyes,
green-upholstered couch, scratchy and firm,
white-cottoned hair and pink-striped mints
your husband shared with great-grandkids.

You taught me the value of stitch by stitch.

128/365 Jill P

Softball ace, you run faster than
most of us, despite the camouflague cargo shorts.

Quick questioner, ready for any answer, you're
not afraid to switch from topic-to-topic
girlfriend-to-girlfriend

or perhaps that's the old days: steady now in
St. Paul. Richfield neighbors are still
good gals, though; we'll meet again.

127/365 Donna H

Solid consociate in all ways --

: shortstop yells "turn it!" to second-base woman
: adviser presses faculty to do more than "tolerate alternative lifestyles"
: teacher brings students her big self and an even bigger world
: co-watcher of L-Word avidly follows plot-lines, twists, romps
: Amy's friend witnessed Split Rock vows --

my teammate, acquaintance, friend.

126/365 Kelly

Blond bombaster, you talk more unreflectively than
anyone I know, making me wonder if I'm wasting
time ridesharing this summer season.

Certainty must feel good, as must the unconditional
love One has for One's firstborn son: that feeling
I do remember and invoke in our nightrides.

Growth happens, perhaps.

125/365 Jessica

Finally 30, beautiful, accomplished, you're a
generation younger than I, a fact that always surprises

until I listen to the cultural reference
points you know and love: TV show characters,

musical groups, writers I've no clue about.
Learning contemporary culture from you is a pleasure:

bemused native informants teach best.

124/365 Carol&Al

First met you 25 years ago, Al already gray,
goatee and all, Carol already flitty-flighty.

Stayed many nights while Meta lodged: willing
to be my half-way point from PA to MN.

Your suburban neighborhood confused this
small-town girl: rows of nearly identical brick bungalows.

Thanks for standing out.

123/365 Midge

The apple cheeks reveal your
almost-Amish upbringing: extra-dark
hard pretzels the snack of childhood.

Friends since Third-Side Press, keeping Meta
in drawer-pulls and tools, answering every
need with certainty and humor.

Flexible host, you and Diana took us in
without a question, guest room ready
for next time, too.

122/365 Dawn V

Rose tattoo first intrigued, as did almond-white teeth,
gold-irised eyes that laughed while you smoked.

Accidentally, truly, I got lost in New Jersey
your address on my dashboard: stayed two days

then visited for a year. Band rehearsals in Elizabeth,
Raw Honey with Henry James: do you still play?

121/365 Dawn M

Motherhood becomes you, bemused by your boys,
life on a trajectory arching high
as slow-pitched softballs: unexpectedly
strikes that get the team out of tight spots.

You love good beer, good femmes, good books --
difficult combination for a curly-haired smarty-pants
with a raw sense of humor and a sprinkle of freckles.

120/365 Peggy

Raucous, curious, just the right amount of
skeptical anxious criticism: no excuses, a bit
of fear, you brave the historical deep of
British women's lit with honesty and humor.

Your classmates can learn much from you:
red-headed asker of good questions, listener
to all answers, then asking for more.

119/365 Jyl

Decades later, your smile's still the same
chin-to-cheeks angle, freckled-nose to bottom-lip,
open-faced giggle, bent-browed puzzling.

Relationship between you and brothers?
Even less close than me-and-mine
I surmise, remembering babysitting
in leaf-brown kitchen with new dinette chairs.

Bonus to see you: clearly happy and real, yourself in every way.

118/365 Renae

Your dad's brown-and-orange A&W drive-in *the* place
for high-school work: car-hops with change belts,
rootbeer floats, teen-burger baskets.

Your mom's back-of-the-house beauty shop the place
for eyebrow waxes, permanents, haircuts
across from Magelssen Elementary.

Third of three blondies, quiet little sister to
effervescent big sister, first-born-son brother,
my friend.

117/365 Randy

Only male of four first-cousins in
our grade, was your round-shouldered quiet

from studying science or forking
hay -- country boy as you were?

Also "most-likely-to-succeed," you have
indeed: world-traveling petroleum engineer.

Also Catholic, family's pew
always to our west.

Our paths continue to cross
every five years. It's good.

116/365 Ralph B

across-the-street neighbor
father of Scott-Marshall-Jyl
social studies teacher, head basketball coach
barking laugh in wrinkled face
commanding both court and classroom
rarely without a whistle around your neck

you presided over the coach's office, tucked up
beside the gym stage, smelling of
leather, rubber, chalk motes, dust

115/365 Tami&Lezli

Candidates for Queen of Fosston
striving to shape the world
as you see it, as you wish to see it.

Popular, pretty, town-and-country,
adding talent to the local
pool, pushing others to
be more than they'd intended.

Nearing 50, staying close to your
13-year-old selves: fit, funny, bossy, beautiful.

114/365 Dave M

Interloper
oddball
you didn't stand a
chance in the prairie-tight
cliques of Fosston where all male-merit
is athletic: your desperate need to fit, your
understandable need for friends, made you a
target-scapegoat-punchline.

Serenades
blue-stoned necklace
long-banged head-toss of a
teen trying not to succumb: you survived.

113/365 Dave S

My sister's first serious boyfriend,
your quiet intensity came across
as Norwegian stoicism or farm-boy
shyness, perhaps blond intelligence but
traditional athletics weren't your style.

I remember slow-nodding
conversations but not much more,
your verbal style seemingly at
odds with your current role as
principal: Karlstad's different?

112/365 Brenda

Youngest brother's wife, 15 years ago at

least, you're still mysterious, dairy

princess, mother of the blondest

two granddaughters Mo & Em.

I'm still in awe of your marathon

stint, Grandma's more than once,

impressive ability to focus and run, a

commitment to things great and small.