What About Carlos?
Posted at 5:56 AM on November 17, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(19 Comments)
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Yesterday, our discussion of passenger behavior on board a commuter train roaring across the Minnesota prairie drove Donna of Sioux Falls completely off the rails and into a field rich with fantastic, harvest-ready corn.
I would be looking out the window daydreaming about striking up a conversation with the good-looking single guy sitting next to me, named Carlos. I'd smile and he'd smile back. I'd remark about how pleasant-smelling the train is at its infancy stage. He'd nod and agree and then I'd work up the courage to tell him some amusing anecdotes about my English ancestors who landed in Kentucky and made moonshine for a spell. And then I'd tell him about my great grandfather's antics at the picture show one Saturday with my dad's cousin. And then I'd motion toward the window and say, "See that hobo? I'm pretty sure that's one of my descendants from Kentucky." Carlos would crack up at that and say, "What's a cute funny girl like you doing in South Dakota?" And I'd say, "I know - isn't that ironic?" Then he'd ask me out, we'd fall in love and soon thereafter I'd become a Minnesotan.Posted by Donna | November 16, 2009 9:20 AM
Truth be told, staring out the window and letting your mind go tra-la-la'ing through the myriad possibilities of this unpredictable life may be the very best way to kill time on a 40 minute commute from Big Lake to hustling, bustling downtown Minneapolis. We'll assume it is unnecessary to explain or even wonder why a first grade teacher from South Dakota is riding into the Twin Cities with the weekday morning commuters.
The question on my mind is "What About Carlos?" He must have a back-story involving relatives as interesting as Donna's movie-theater-disrupting, hobo-producing Kentucky moonshiners.
Is he a movie star on holiday, a reformed bullfighter, a displaced mariachi looking for a place to play, or is he related to Carlos Avery, failed 1924 Minnesota gubernatorial candidate and namesake of the famed Wildlife Management Area near Forest Lake?
Why is he so open to Donna's "nice-smelling train" conversation-starting gambit?
Must the couple settle in Minnesota? Does South Dakota habitually expel cute, funny people?
Would they make their home along the Northstar Rail line? Forest Lake or Fridley?
So many unanswered questions! Answer one of these, or ask your own.
Comments (19)
Carlos has exiled himself from his native land for several years, traveling the world to find meaning after a trafic love story gone bad. It's when he looks into the face of the open and kind-hearted kindergarten teacher on the Northstar Rail that he realizes that his heart has actually mended and the world is awash in fresh possibilities and mayhaps .... love!
Morning Heartlanders!
Carlos started out life as a Norwegian - Karl Ost - a son of a big cheese maker outside of Bergen. his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps in the cheese business; but Karl wanted more. his heart was in music. and his idol was Roy Orbison. he left Bergen (on the train to Oslo) and came to the US in the early 80s with his bass guitar and one 8 track tape of Roy's songs. thru an incredible set of coincidences he bagged a gig with Roy. Roy immeditately loved his playing and asked him to hang with his band. if you look closely you can see him in the edgy black and white-filmed concert, playing with Bruce, Elvis C. and a host of biggies. that's where he got named Carlos - short for his real name. he decided to go by one name because of his other idol: Dion. and you guessed it, his favorite song of Dion's is "Donna."
Actually his name isn't Carlos. When Donna first spoke to him he mumbled,"Car lost." to explain why he was on the train. Things hadn't been going well for him in the economic downturn. The :"hobo" out the window may or may not have been a relative of Donna's but he was definitely a friend of "Carlos'" They had shared beans and bedrolls at the precious night's campfire before "Carlos" hopped the train and identified Donna as his Big Rock Candy Mountain.....
Donna should have remembered her mother's exhortations not to talk to strangers, especially the slick ones from Minnesota!
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Actually Carlos isn't Carlos at all. He is the expression of an immense intelligence such as the one in Stanisław Lem's Solaris... and intellegence which inhabits commuter lines everywhere and whose manifestations are as varied as its intentions. This intelligence isn't nearly as threatening as Lem's, though, and simply wanted to distract Donna from the actual smells and sights of the commuter train.
"an intelligence which..."
Carlos is a reformed bullfighter from southern Mexico. His new occupation is a baker/sandwich-maker. He was riding the train to Mnpls. to catch another train to west St. Paul where his business is located. Many of his family members work there too. The blushing bride has become Carlos' apprentice. She has convinced the family to integrate a Norse flair into the Mexican standbys. Deep fat fried pillows of lefse (lefsepillas) and lutefisk tacos have become the most popular new menu items. Carlos' mother is having a difficult time accepting Donna. I suppose it WOULD be pretty disconcerting to have a daughter-in-law older than you.
Thanks for playing along, gang! My first graders are going to wonder why their teacher is chuckling to herself the livelong day.
Carlos seems to be a very complex person, but having hooked up with Donna, he will have help getting his life in order. Of course, we are not too sure about this. Donna might lead Carlos into some new adventures that we can only imagine. Will they become gypsies, or perhaps they will move north and live in the woods? We hope they will keep in touch with us using a computer an telling us all about their life.
I think Carlos and Donna may want to celebrate with a honeymoon on the Amtrak Empire Builder from St. Paul to Portland. It would take them to Fargo and then across the northern tier of North Dakota. They may, however, see the possibilities for a life in North Dakota, where cute and funny women are the norm, not the exception, and they could participate every year in the Norsk Hostfest. I think that lefsepillas adn lutefisk tacos would be a real hit there.
Such creativity so early in the day! Barb in Blackhoof - I had to stop brushing my teeth while reading about Karl Ost so that I wouldn't get toothpaste down my chin while I giggled. Then had to stop again for the lutefisk tacos. Too funny.
Carlos was a dragon, up until two days prior to that fateful train ride. He had been known as "Puff" but when Little Jackie Paper grew up, Carlos had returned to his cave to mourn. He figured he would never again find a soul mate like Jackie. He had finally been coaxed out by a returning adult Jackie who had come to apologize. Carlos realized he had been missing out on life, and, choosing to see Jackie's world, he used some magical gryhon powder to manifest as human. Once in the world of men, he rode the rails seeing what he could see - intending one day to return to his cave in Honnalee. But then he met Donna, and he knew this was kismet. This was his true soul mate. With Donna he could be who he truly needed and wanted to be (with some help of more gryphon powder to remain human forever, and some antacids to take care of the fire breath). In a few short months, they were married - with Pastor Jackie Paper officiating. And they lived happily ever after.
Carlos is clearly a "traveling man." Donna, didn't your mother warn you about "traveling men?"
I think Donna and Carlos will end up in Fargo. They will become the inspiration for a new Coen brothers film called "A Not So Serious Couple". It will be about the restaurant they open in Fargo with those specialties they developed in St. Paul. I think there will be many unusual customers in restaurant in the Coen film based on Donna and Carlos and unusual accents that combine the hertiages of Donna and Carlos would be featured in this film.
Carlos is actually the journalist who was feeding information to Bud Buck, who as we suspected never went to the light rail at all yesterday, but typed up his story as Carlos emailed him the info. He came over from Spain on the Muskalon, and is a friend of Spin Williams and Congressman Beechly. He and Donna will have a lovely life together somewhere between reality and cyberspace...
Ah, that Carlos, the master mason who builds air castles, yellow brick roads, and streets paved with gold.
The story of Donna and Carlos, in whatever form it takes, will undoubtly have a sound track selected by Dale and Mike.
...i had writen something really good to post but my internet crashed and it was lost...boooo.
Bummer, Guy in the Hat. I have an idea your "something" would have been the icing on the burrito.
Thanks, all. Fun day for me and my betrothed. Heartlanders are hilarious!
Thanks for the MTA, Dale, and the B. McFerrin one after it is cool, too -- never heard before.
In case you're listening to our HD signal, you're probably noticing it's not there right now (8pm). I'm told there's an upgrade being performed and the signal should be back in a few minutes.
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