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The Last Word, 2012. The Next Word, 2013.

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Here we are, finally, at the end of 2012. Word Press prepared a 2012 annual report for Trail Baboon. There are some interesting statistics, though I haven’t got a clue what they all mean. Click here to see the data.

Going into 2012 we were all feeling some trepidation about what was ahead, particularly with regard to the election. One year ago today, many of the baboons engaged in the artful science of making real and fantasy predictions about the coming year.

Baboons were hesitant to offer guesses about the future in the category we can only call Reality Based Predictions (R.B.P.). Several ventured (correctly) into this territory:

  • Obama will win the election, and the bad karma the GOP has been sending out will be returned to them.

Here’s my choice as the winner for the most accurate RBP:

Screen shot 2012-12-30 at 9.46.58 AM

But baboons seemed to be more comfortable making Fantasy Predictions (F.B.P.), such as:

  • The economy will turn around completely and become a steaming engine of Green Industry, recycling everything and focusing on creating energy without a carbon load.
  • Bubby will finally make it into the junior class (never going to happen).
  • Minnesota will not have a single day with a heat index over 90. (nice try)

Though there are elements of reality-based guessing in this one, I’m most impressed by the fantasy landscape. When it comes to the imagined future, we all seem to be much more comfortable (and hopeful) about our personal projections, rather than our national or global prospects.

Screen shot 2012-12-30 at 9.48.36 AM

Of course, I believe Edith is still incarcerated. Still, one has to admire the optimism in this scenario.

When it comes to making predictions for the year ahead, deciding whether we were accurate or misguided is completely beside the point. This annual exercise is a way to express hopes and fears, and in some cases to add a note of personal resolve. No bets are made and no money changes hands.

So let your minds roam – what will happen in 2013?

67 thoughts on “The Last Word, 2012. The Next Word, 2013.”

  1. Thanks to the support of baboons Mini-sota Donut Ice Cream will be available for the summer of 2013 in Minnesota grocery stores.

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      1. we had a fun get together at christmas and a joke telling portion of the day popped up. one of the favorites was knock knock , whos there, interrupting cow, interupting cow wh……mooooo
        gets a smile everytime.

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    2. i was thinking of the ice cream just yesterday looking forward to tasting it. congrats. can we have an ice cream party and taste the original recipe too?

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  2. Morning all. I’m not good at prognosticating… I don’t think I had an entry last year… so we’ll go with the hopes/possibilities for the household. Teenager will be accepted into college of her choice, get enough grants/loans/scholarships to attend said college, graduate high school, get a good job for the summer. I will survive the above process, join the choir, figure out how to do all the stuff around the house that Teenager usually does now. Hopefully there will be a vacation to Ely this summer as well (request by Teenager).

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    1. i went to the outfitter a couple years ago up there and asked for a cool campsite and they gave me a spot 5 miles out of town that was one of the nicest i have ever stayed at. that with the pyra gliphs (indian rock drawings and the venus fly traps that we saw on a canoe outing made it a slam dunk trip. bet the outfitter could tell you where the venus fly traps were too. i love ely.

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  3. Well, except for the independently wealthy thing, I did pretty well – hit it pretty much dead on (sorry about the lack of hot fudge sundaes folks). With that sort of record, I might try for reality-based predictions again, but I think the best I can do is that Daughter will continue to enjoy math (how many kids say, “oh goodie! math homework!” when they open their Christmas presents and find math workbooks?), I will learn new stuff at my new job that will be totally cool (in a nerdy sort of way), and the dog will continue to think he is a lap dog…all 50 lbs of him. If I’m really lucky, maybe I can include, “riding in my big brother’s Tesla Roadster” in there – but i don’t know if that will even be delivered in 2013 (really really lucky would be him letting me drive it). For friends who have had a rough year in 2012, I would hope for them a smoother and more content 2013.

    Fantasy based: congress will get their thumbs out of their posteriors and actually work together to get some decent legislation out the door, Michelle Bachmann decides that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and not in congress and she retires to spend the rest of her years perfecting the blandest sugar cookie imaginable, I somehow manage to win a trip to Paris (or perhaps St. Petersburg), and as part of mental health legislation signed by Dayton we all are given 5 minutes at 2pm to pause, breathe, and be grateful for something in our lives.

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        1. You probably missed my reply the other day. I have Basset Hound Eyes. After a week of smearing my lids with a magic cream, I was MUCH better. I told my eye doctor, “One week of cream and I’ve gone from a Basset to a Beagle. Give me two weeks more and I might hit Fox Terrier.” I see her in two days and we’ll consider treatment options at that point.

          My condition was much worse last winter. I’d wake up with my eyelids glued shut from the tears that kept leaking out and drying. The funniest time was when I woke up more or less blind but with an aching bladder. After 36 years here, I can find the bathroom blindfolded. The challenge, however, was what followed. Let’s just say that my eyes were glued shut but not my ears, so I used hearing to tell me my aim was true.

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        3. Given what my dog’s eyes are like, I sincerely hope yours are doing better. I wish you the eyes of a Fox Terrier (or better) for 2013.

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      1. lets not taint the taste with sauce.
        i did however have soem marvelous drumstick ice cream with jacques booze beery topping for a bedtime sendoff and dreamed happily all night.

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  5. Good morning. In 2012 Edith was not continuously in jail because she did show up at some of the book club meetings. I’m not sure how she managed to get out of jail on those days. I suppose she is still in jail, as Dale indicated. I predict that in 2013 the Baboons will mount a successful Free Edith campaign and she will finally end her career as a jail bird provided she can manage to avoid committing any parole violations.

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        2. You are right, Steve, that it was lots of work (also lots of frustration). However, the only thing that my mom’s apartment and garage is flooded with is STUFF. She and her stuff remained dry even when a block away people were kayaking down the street. And I barely made a dent in her stuff.

          It was my sister & brother-in-law’s house that got flooded with water in the Great Duluth Flood. Not surprising, since they live just a mile or so downstream from Jay Cooke Park – I’m sure many of you read about the damage there, including the demise of the swinging bridge. I did not get to help in their clean-up because I timed my trip home for the day before the flood. I always seem to miss the excitement.

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      3. I didn’t make it to Steve’s birthday. I had gotten out for a trip to a Twins game – one of the few they won so it was a good time, but part of me kept wishing I was at the surprise party.

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        2. I was hoping to see Ben Revere make a highlight-reel catch, and I didn’t see that, but I did see him turn a somersault in the outfield. And it was a good offensive night for the Twinkies, they scored 11 runs and the Phillies scored 7. And the weather was perfect.

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  6. Here is my fantasy prediction for 2013. I will try to follow this advice from Bobby Mcferrin:

    “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

    Here’s a little song I wrote
    You might want to sing it note for note
    Don’t worry, be happy
    In every life we have some trouble
    But when you worry you make it double
    Don’t worry, be happy
    Don’t worry, be happy now

    Ain’t got no place to lay your head
    Somebody came and took your bed
    Don’t worry, be happy
    The landlord say your rent is late
    He may have to litigate
    Don’t worry, be happy
    Don’t worry, be happy

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  7. Last year I predicted the public would improve its view of Obama but that Republicans would continue to fight like scorpions in a bottle. Bingo. Got those right.

    Last year I thought I might see more of my daughter and grandson. That did not happen, and I’m now fighting the urge to move to Portland. I am an expert at finding candy in kids’ ears. Poor Liam knows nothing of this yet, for I have yet to pull a strand of licorice out of his left ear. I have other equally important matters to share with him before he gets too old or before I’m gone.

    Illness makes a person boring and self-centered. I was both at the time I wrote last year’s prediction. Better drugs have allowed me to be a better person, and I can even walk, although I look comically creaky while doing it. I hope 2013 offers me enough relief from pain to let me appreciate others folks and maybe even ease their lives a bit instead of worrying about my own.

    I did not predict last year that my tree would fall, filling my backyard and my neighbors. Nor did I predict that a crew of chainsaw angels would appear and make the tree disappear. For all that is regrettable about the condition of the world, there is still a great deal of love and empathy. It is usually foolish for an older person to expect that the next year to be better than the past one, but I am that kind of fool.

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    1. glad you are feeling better steve. liam is lucky to have a grandfather who cares so much. here or seatle matters little. the vibes will travel the miles necessary and leave him loved. licorice is nice but love comes though over skype. try it youll like it.

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    2. Your tree falling gave us a great baboon adventure, Steve. May the “better living through chemistry” work well again for you in 2013!

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  8. my hopes and predictions for the coming year are as follows:
    the trail will continue to be a high point in the daily lives of baboons here and world wide (i had no idea).
    my children will find a path that leads to happiness and fulfillment, singing for that son, career for daughter and her husband, direction for the college son, inspiration for the writer singer actor in the making and a channel for the energy supreme that the last one brings. its fun to watch and after the christmas card season and getting to reread a couple of the old cards and family flashbacks it is heartwarming to see how the world has transformed to where we are today
    obama will teach the world a lesson on how a president of the free world with a heart and soul that cares about more than political shufflingcan make changes that are world changing. he has 1000 days left (almost 1500 actually)
    the vikings will win the super bowl.
    the twins will have to figure out how to write off 1,000,000 free tickets given to needy children and groups as they do a nose dive where no one will come to see a club that bails on its fan base. maybe we can be the example of what is wrong with base ball and the non sharing that exists and makes parody not only impossible but unwelcome by the haves over the havenots. (1%)
    the hockey season will not happen at all this year and minnesotas coo in scoring the two big studs last year will be moot for the year.
    the state of minnesota will lead the way in showing the world how a people first government will find a way to act responsibly in helping and taxing at the same time.
    rt rybek will figure out how help the country with his next move to bigger and better things. he is the sharpest politician i have seen in this time and space aong with obama and will absolutley lead us to a better world.
    dale will publish a book and make a movie on the winning season of springfield illinois baseball team in 1973. ben afleck the coach and producer.
    clydes book too will be published and turned into a film with the indie awards from sundance film festival it wont be done this year but it will be begun.
    2013 will be the first year where krista gets to come out to the front of the main stage and enjoy the fruit of the labor she has created over the last 20 years as she hands off her responsibility and takes on the role of pleasure seeker. she will also enjoy her new deck build by baboons in the april deck building weekend get together.
    joanne and jim will get to achieve abovewaterness and jim of clarks grove will blossom in the new minneapolis digs.
    the trials and tribulations will go on but with an aire of hope instead of the futile hopelessness that has predominated the last few new years vibes. ,it’l soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. the times they are a changin

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      3. april 5th unless the weather stinks. ill bring a tent to sleep in and figure on staying through sunday to get it done. lets double check anas schedule. she has the tools

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  9. Poiticians will get stupider (Is that even a word?)
    The dollar will lose more purchasing power.
    Crazed whackjobs will find even more ways to kill lots of innocent people in supposedly “safe” places.
    The Gophers will win the NCAA Hockey Tournament. (Uh-oh, I may have just jinxed them.)
    Tne nation will be discussing the “next” Fiscal Cliff ad nauseum. (Can we ban that term from polite conversation?)
    More and more closet Libertarians will out themselves by finally realizing that voting for the lesser of two evils results in evil remaining in power.
    There’s no way the Vikings will beat the Packers two weeks in a row.
    2013 will be cooler than normal. (Just a hunch)
    When the nation is not discussing the Fiscal Cliff, we will be gradually discovering what exactly is in the 2699 pages (out of 2700) of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that no one has read (especially Congress). Many will be shocked, surprised, and/or royally pissed off.
    Talented individuals among us will amaze, delight, and/or awe the world with the fruits of their creations in ways we never thought possible.
    Sadly, the peoples of the world will still kill each other in the name of religion, government, or just plain hate.
    Those of us who always try to make the world a better place will continue to do so and then look back upon 2013 as a good year. because we are nothing if not optimistic.
    I will get some piece of my writing published, or at least validated by an agent who wants to represent me. Barring that, I’ll place in some sort of writing contest.
    A Black Swan event will rock the world. (Hey, maybe me getting published will be the BS! 🙂 )
    The Trail Balloon blog will survive and thrive.

    Happy New Year,
    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. No wonder you have such wonrful posts when we have the pleasure of your company. I had never accessed your blog before. I will in e future. Great stuff. Good luck in 2013 to getting published. Run it up the blog flagpole and I will enjoy reading it if it’s more of the same of what you have posted there now. Good stuff another eva Cassidy fan. She is great. Politics makes an interesting start to a conversation and I see you have an interest there too. Look forward to your 2013 postings

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      1. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, tim. There seems to be several talented writers here (starting with Dale), you included. Always interesting to read the posts here.

        Oh shoot! I just realized I screwed up the blog name. TRAIL BABOON! not Trail Balloon. D’ Oh!

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  10. 2013 will bring a victorious Obama presidency in spite of the fascists in the House; he will refuse to “cave” on all major issues facing the nation; he will oversee rational new gun control laws and reinforce existing ones; under his stewardship, viable pathways to citizenship will emerge; and he will further create a legacy that will be viewed by history as quite remarkable one day. In the meantime, every nomination for every kind of office needing to be filled and every piece of legislation he supports will continue to be roundly attacked (read: filibustered) by the anti-democratic forces of the House. As these haters and obstructionists dwindle, their venomous acting out will escalate until the we the People refuse to tolerate it.

    2013 will see more “natural disasters” than ever, nudging the climate-change deniers toward accepting the reality that we’re doing this to ourselves. 2013 will see a resurgence of REAL patriotism and public push back on plutocracy, bigotry, racism, sexism, and every other onerous ism there is! 2013 will be a kinder, gentler year for most of us, especially as all economic indicators steadily improve. Goodness will gain traction, while darkness diminishes.

    2013 will have me getting three more NED (no evidence of disease) PET scans and stabilizing my low weight issues. 2013 will also bring even more joy from the privilege of helping several humans discover their worth and their competence in this life.

    2013 will see three generations of women come together in a delightful adventure aboard a cruise ship!!! That’s right; I’ve booked a five-day trip for me, my daughter, and my 19-year old granddaughter. We leave on January 26. What’s a reverse mortgage for if not to allow an occasional adventure?

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  11. My predictions are quite similar to Sherrilee’s, given I too have a graduating high school senior. I also predict daughter and I will have a wonderful time in London, Our garden will burst with bushels of tomatoes, and I will be one year closer to retirement.

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  12. i predict edith will set up a foundation to help other criminals get on with life on the outside. raspberries and herbs will be the name of the foundation and it will teach us all how to avoid getting into situations like the money in the briefcase issue edith doesnt’t like to talk about

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  13. My RBPs include practical things like adjusting to a new job and routine with minimal stress and aggravation. I’m optimistic that Pippin will adjust with me but he’s only gradually warming to the idea of me being away for longer hours. tim is correct in his observation that I’ll stop working so hard at Rock Bend and start enjoying the show! Rock Bend (called by some “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”) will have to continue without me on the committee. I predict that my replacement will be a funny, outgoing, positive, young guy who loves outdoor festivals as much as I do and will be able to bring a new and exciting spirit to our folksy party.

    I won’t make any predictions about the political and economic situations we face, or about the climate change issues or other crises that could be disastrous. I’m willing to wait and see how things work out.

    My FBPs include Edith finding a rich relative who helps move her mother and all of her stuff to a fine new home. This rich relative will also get Edith a famous lawyer who will pay the judge to reverse all of the charges against her. She’ll be freed from prison and spend the summer gardening and making jam. She’ll win blue ribbons for her currant jam at the State Fair. For Edith (and me) there will not be a day over 90 and the humidity will stay comfortably low.

    Steve will find some way to pull licorice out of Liam’s ears; Clyde will find a cure for the pain of fibromyalgia; Anna will find her hammer; mig will have a wonderful year with her s&h; Linda will continue to provide the perfect quote at the perfect time; Trail Baboon will continue to be a place where we can all thrive and people will continue to be curious about what the heck is Trail Baboon? Maybe I’ll try for a guest post… no promises… maybe….

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  14. As 2012 was a roller coaster year for me, here’s hoping that 2013 is a very stable one. I started out 2012 with no job, no money, and with very little hope for a job. Then I got my dream job, moved to Superior, started working, then the flood happened. Then the burgling, then the new apartment. Since July, it’s been a good year 🙂

    I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

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    1. Wow!! Quite a year for you, Alanna!! I, too hope you have a good stable year in 2013. And I hope I do too, getting (with Renee) one year closer to retirement. And I am hoping (like Steve) to spend some time with a healthy grandchild (although mine is not due until early March, so that makes my situation different than Steve’s.) I hope that all the young people in our lives are wonderful, whether they are our students or our children. And I hope that all of the baboons stay healthy or get more healthy.

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  16. Rats, didn’t embed. Oh well.

    I’m not in a mood to think globally, or even nationally, so I’ll stay close to home. I plan, in 2013:
    1) to be more honest with myself, and therefore my with my extended family, about lots of things that are fresh in my mind following our Christmas visit.
    2) I want to be more focused on some greater good – specifically I would like to work for some cause that would honor Joel’s memory. I think I need a brainstorming session with tim.
    3) I’m sure we will do more traveling, and I hope some of it’s by rail.

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  18. Evening crew!

    Just returned from the last of our family Christmas’s over in Trempealeau Wisconsin. It must be a tradition; we did it last year on this date as well. But this year the family of Mom, Dad and 6, count them SIX BOYS are in a new house with 3 bathrooms rather than the tiny house with 1 bathroom.
    I predict less bladder stress than last year for them.

    Forgive my short memory tim, but last year this time your Mom was having health issues and there was news of possible cancer. Where is that all now?

    And it was warm and raining last year. This year my son is at a church retreat up near Duluth. He’s due home tomorrow.

    I’m gonna predict rain in all the right places in all the right amounts and bumper crops for farmer, gardeners and goat milkers everywhere!

    Party carefully Baboons!

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  19. 4) I look forward to another year on the Trail with all you wonderful baboons, and wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!

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