I had the opportunity recently to listen to Al Batt speak. As anybody who has listened to Al knows, he has the ability to weave a tale like few others. Every time I hear him, about halfway through his speech, I startle myself by remembering where he started this particular story and won- dering how he’s going to get back to that by the end, which he inevitably does.

I’ ve written before about David Sedaris, a humorist who Michelle and I enjoy listening to, whether it’s on audiobook or in person. Sedaris also has the ability to string a story along, taking divergent paths instead of following the GPS directions for the straightest trip to the end. Yet, going down those side streets is also a better route than the main thor- oughfare. It’s a bit like driving down country roads to enjoy the view in- stead of racing down the interstate.

We are all storytellers. You likely come home from work and tell people you live with about your day. You might go to work and tell your co-workers about your evening or weekend. We know our friends will listen to any story we tell and not try to avoid us. We find a spouse by tell- ing the most inane stories possible, or possibly telling the same story many times, and seeing if they keep answering our calls.

We tell stories to our children and grandchildren. Many of those stories start with “Back in the day,” or, “When I was your age.” I like to tell my students stories “Back when dirt was young,” or, “Back when the

Grand Canyon was only a ditch.” I’m not quite that old, but to teen- agers, anybody past the age of 30 is ancient. Many of these types of stories engender an eye roll from the listener or listeners.

But stories are important. We need to tell stories. We should listen to stories. Actually, we usually listen, but we should especially pay atten- tion to stories. I lost one grandpa when I was 12 and the other when I was 16. Grandpa Hacker, especially, liked to sit in his chair and tell stories. I always listened, but I wish I would have paid more attention.

One story I do remember is when he was in his 20s and fell off the hay- rack. Grandpa was certain he had broken his arm, but a storm was brewing and the hay needed to get baled. Besides, he didn’t really trust those doctors. He splinted his arm and finished baling. He never did go in to get it properly looked at either!

My dad tells stories. Oh boy, does he ever! He has his own radio show every Thursday morning on KNUJ, 860 AM in New Ulm. It’s called “The Old Sheepherder Show” and runs for 10-15 minutes before 7:00. I like to say it’s the highest-rated

radio show in its time slot. He’s been doing this since I was still at home, so it’s well over 30 years now.

He provides anecdotes (or anti- dotes, as I heard him call them one time), wisdom from the ages, and up- dates on whatever else he thinks is important, all to the background of his lead-in song, “The Strip Polka.” I got a chance to guest star on his show last summer to congratulate him and Mom on their 50th wedding anniversary. I think I threw him off his groove a bit, but a good story- teller can recover from even calami- tous events and finish strong.

Dad tends to repeat stories or talk about people I don’t know, assuming I know everyone in and around New Ulm. It’s okay; I rarely correct him. I might throw in an “Oh yeah, you mentioned that” from time to time, but otherwise I let him finish. That’s important since one never knows where the story might go this time. After all, that fish you caught twenty years ago is probably a little bigger now and took a little longer to land after years of telling the story.

I guess the storytelling gene came to me from both sides. After all, that’s what I tend to do here week

after week, isn’t it? I enjoy finding a personal experience and matching it with a theme. It is a pattern, but many stories follow patterns. When you tell a fairy tale, you’ll often find the number three involved, as in the Three Bears or three things Red Rid- ing Hood says to the wolf or three companions Dorothy meets on her way to see the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City.

Sometimes I tell a story in class to link to what we are learning. I try not to make it too long since the kids have work to do, but it’s nice for the students to know I’ m human too. Often, students who play sports want to hear tales from when I coached or an officiating experience. Strangely enough, they always want to hear about when I’ve had to eject people from games. I guess those can make for exciting stories!

Tell your story! Talk to your friends and family. Maybe consider writing in a diary or journal so some- thing is left behind for your descen- dants when you’re gone. After all, I hope my own kids will want to look through my columns someday and know and remember things about their dad.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is oxygeusia, which means an acute sense of taste, as in, “They were sick of hearing how his extraor- dinary oxygeusia had been stolen away by Covid, never to return.” Im- press your friends and confuse your enemies!