A Prairie Home Companion (Public)

"Kind of wet this week but nice and warm, up into the 80s. It's the real start of summer here. Spring is just a very brief season in Minnesota." Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church holds its annual book sale. Plus, the story of Dean Levine, who dreamt of becoming a cashier.

"It's been kind of cold and rainy there this last week. We got a little snow on Monday -- we don't need to talk about that at all." The high school seniors prepare for their Senior Prom, the Sons of Knut do some spring cleaning, Pastor Liz ponders her encounter with a highway patrolman, and Mr. Nelson goes on a strange journey.

"It is spring. The lawns have turned lush and green. The loons have arrived -- loons, who are monogamous, and one pair of loons will command a whole wide expanse of water out on Lake Wobegon." The town celebrates Easter, spring yard sales begin, the local Norwegian bachelor farmers wash their sheets, and Pastor Liz delivers an unexpectedly powerful Good Friday sermon.

"It's been a big week in Minnesota weather. We had a little snow at the beginning of the week and it was cold and then it got warmer and the sun came out." The story of Mr. Turnblad, who built a sailboat, sailed the Gulf of Mexico for three months, and returned to Lake Wobegon a changed man. Plus, Darlene falls for a new bread deliveryman, and the town deals with rain on the night of the junior/senior prom, in a monologue from 2009.

"We got a little snow out there this last week -- six inches but we don't care. We're not shoveling. The shovel's been put away. The snow plow is parked in the garage." Spring comes to Lake Wobegon and town constables Gary and Leroy respond to a dispute at the Magendantz home, in this monologue from 2011.

"It was a new moon on Monday so it was purely dark for three nights and there was very little snow on the ground to reflect any starlight or streetlights." Clint Bunsen turns to a vegetarian diet after his wife discovers a dangerous German cookbook, Pastor Liz makes a few pastoral calls, and they share an awkward encounter when Clint visits to repair her toilet.

"Valentine's Day coming up on Tuesday, so love is in the air." Cold weather returns to Lake Wobegon, the Lake Wobegon Leonards basketball team suffers a disheartening defeat, the Bunsens baptize a new granddaughter on Super Bowl Sunday, and Marilyn Tollerud tells the story of her grandfather, who outlived a dire prognosis.

"We got a little snow -- a little snow Monday night. What a beautiful snowfall it was, and not all that cold out." The recent warm weather puts those who suffer from "Pump Handle Phobia" at ease. Plus, Mr. Hansen lends a hand around the neighborhood while his wife visits her sister in Florida, and reveals an unusual secret.

"Unseasonably warm early in the week but now, thank goodness, the temperature has dropped into the single digits, which is to everyone's satisfaction." The town's ice fishermen deal with an unexpected lack of ice, residents gear up for the Winter Festival, Lake Wobegon sets a world record, and Darlene is forced to stay close-mouthed.

"It's been warm out there. It's been in the 40s so we had a brown Christmas -- we had no snow." Hawaiian visitors head to Lake Wobegon for a taste of winter, the Tolleruds and the Hansens fight over a good deed after a freezer malfunction, and some advice for 2012 as the town celebrates New Year's Eve.

"It's been much too warm out there. It's been raining. It looks dreary -- it doesn't look like the festival of lights whatsoever." Plus, a series of misunderstandings draws a crowd to Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, the Tolleruds reluctantly accept a gift from a NYC relative, Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church celebrates St. Lucia Day, and the high school choir goes caroling.

"It's been getting colder -- into the 20s. It's been trying to snow and we've been seeing a lot of Christmas lights." Plus, Pastor Liz reluctantly serves as a "healer" after a miraculous event at a Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church women's retreat becomes the talk of the town.

"Oh, we knew it was going to snow. We could see that sky—that was a snow sky. People who have lived here for more than five minutes know what that snow sky looks like." Plus, discovering hidden treasures under the floor of Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, Pastor Liz delivers a sermon on one of her least favorite Gospels, and Lake Wobegon exiles return home for Thanksgiving.

It's been gray, it's been chilly, it's been cold, and we had our first real frost out there -- frosty sidewalks early in the morning. Lyle Janske discovered that the other day. He came out to take his garbage out and he walked across the deck out behind his house, and suddenly without his anticipating it, his feet were up above his head.

The world has taken a turn towards the cold. The sun comes out but it's not warm anymore -- we've taken the big turn towards fall. People are wearing hats in Lake Wobegon. People are turning on their furnaces.