The best fan letter
YES! Last week’s column was very serious and I promised to be different this week. Had a busy time the last few days so looked back in the files and found one of the best fan letters ever received. It was dated 5/7/09 coming from an extremely observant lady in Bigfork, Rose Ottosen. It made my week:
“Dear George Ostrom,
What a delight it was for me to read your composition, “Why I’m an Optimist,” in this week’s Bigfork Eagle! It was like taking in a d-e-e-p breath of fresh mountain air, i.e., they are life-giving words! Thank you!
“...I hear so few voices of optimism, so few people who say, ‘Hey, wait a minute! If each of us picks up the broken pieces (of any situation) and forge something new from them, there is no limit to the life that can be fostered! By seriously taking responsibility for our own lives and reaching a hand to our neighbor, we’ll do JUST FINE!’
“After all we only know the ‘stuff’ we’re made of IF we are challenged and stretched. We are MADE to grapple with life’s extremities. With ‘faith, sacrifice, and hard work’ we do indeed conquer and, ultimately, become better men and women for it! Every generation has faced hardships. Our present circumstances are not anomalies!”
“Your voice in this valley has always been one of strength and integrity and consistently reflects, decade after decade, the spirit of courage that has shaped this nation. Please keep speaking out; voices like yours need to be heard above the sometimes all-too-convincing din of pessimism and irresponsibility!
Again, Thank you”
Sincerely, Rose Ottosen”
That’s how Rose made my week... maybe my year.
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Still cleaning my den, a job which may never be finished; however it is fun when forgotten goodies are discovered. This week it was difficult to accept the fact that in my 50s I would write things which caused First Wife Iris to ask, “George dear, have you no sense of literary shame?” Here’s an example from July 23, 1986.
“My old water proof poncho got ripped on our last climb in Glacier Park so Monday I went to the Sportsman Ski Haus to replace it. I noticed the new clerk unpacking a shipment of foul weather gear, was a locally known political leftist, so I jokingly asked manager Mike Gwiazadon, “Howcum you’ve got that wild eyed liberal, Rudolph, working in the outdoor clothing department?”
“Mike put a hand on my shoulder and said, “George, you know it is difficult finding experienced clerks. He may be far left in his political philosophy, but ‘Rudolph the Red’ knows rain gear.’
Was there humor around this past week? There always is for those who are looking.
This citizens of a small eastern Swiss Canton in the Alps have passed legislation against hiking in the nude. It all started last autumn when many alpinists, mostly from Germany, began hitting the trails au-naturel. The government press release said “The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances over a large area are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating.”
If I was hiking in Glacier with just male members of “The Gang” and we met some females along the trail who were wearing nothing but hiking boots and socks, I would not get angry. Might give them a friendly smile and maybe take a picture; HOWEVER, if I was hiking in Glacier with my daughters, granddaughter, or other ladies and we met some males wearing only hiking boots and socks, I would get angry, call the rangers.... and probably use some ‘bare’ spray.
Sorry Iris! Maybe I’ll never develop a sense of “literary shame.”
Life is good.
George Ostrom is an award-winning columnist. He lives in Kalispell.