Marlys Harris

Last week, I got a shot of hope. It happens so infrequently that I had to lie down for a while to recover. The event that produced this strange reaction was a “press familiarization tour” to highlight the wonders of “St. Paul on the Move.” It was sponsored by the Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership, which calls itself Greater MSP.

My history in athletics is pretty dismal. Lack of talent and coordination made me the last chosen for every team, and no matter how much my classmates and friends cheered (“C’mon, Marlys, you can do it!”), the volleyball I served or the baseball I hit would travel a few feet and then fall to the ground as though made of solid lead. But I did excel on the playground. I could swing, teeter-totter and slide with Olympian panache and even make my way across the tallest rungs of a jungle gym.

I've finally identified the source of the nagging pain in my right shoulder. It's not my purse, as I'd thought, but the wallet within it, which, on its own, seems to weigh about five pounds. Neither huge wads of cash nor buckets of coins are what's making my billfold heftier than Gone with the Wind. It's all those loyalty cards retailers hand out to keep me coming back.