Dateline: Parkinsaw, MI Feb 14, 1999 Happy Valentine's Day and greetings again from the frozen shores of Parkinsaw, MI, a certified imaginary locale with a significant number of PD residents. As the winter continues its grip on the community, unique problems continue with distressing "PD Freezing"incidents. " When it's cold like this up here, visitors can sometimes get confused by the term 'freezing''", quipped Frenchy Gamache. " For example, remember that last snowstorm when old Rasmussen suddenly froze while walking between Stella's Flower Shop and Tony's Chicken Delight, was totally covered with snow, and a visitor thought he was an ice sculpture until he spit out a big chaw of tobacco?" Fortunately since many residents have experienced this phenomena he was quickly spotted, dragged inside before being covered over completely, and slowly brought back to normal with hot coffee followed by an unscheduled visit to the neurologist. . Arnie Bergman also had a close bout this week with freezing-up which has convinced him to give up drinking. I guess what propelled old Arnie into sobriety was the realization that alcohol was significantly contributing to his periodic immobility attacks. What happened was that Old Arnie, disobeying his doctor's injunction against drinking, got a snoot full of whisky and headed across the Parkinsaw Bay on his trusty snowmobile, with a cooler full of beer. Beer in hand, he apparently went into nearly total rigidity while heading south at full throttle. Fortunately, Arnie, drunk as a coon, had neglected to fill up the gas tanks and came to a sudden stop only 15 minutes out. Also, fortunately, Snoose Perkins and his son Butch noticed the immobile figure in the stalled snowmobile, and rescued Old Arnie before he went all the way to Green Bay. . Last night I had my own PD problems. I almost threw my back out while trying to rollover in bed. I've rigged up several screw eyes in the wall above the bed and when I need to roll over, I grab a cane, which has a steel hook fastened to it, insert the hook into the screw eye, and ideally pull myself over. Unfortunately, in the dark, I pulled the wrong way and ended up yanking myself right out of bed. I wasn't seriously hurt but I bet old Yooper won't be sleeping in that spot on the floor for a while! Back to the drawing board with the cane and hooks. And, next week, silk sheets! Residents here have been discussing the causes of PD in Parkinsaw, as stories of mice and men flood the news. One popular local theory is that the collective disappointment with the pathetic play of the Detroit Tigers over the past three years has resulted in unusually disruptive pressures in the brains of local fans thereby possibly adversely affecting their dopamine levels. More educated opinions place the blame on the excessively high levels of toxic metals and pesticides found in the local fish supply. Who knows? Might just as well vent your spleen and blame those cellar-dwelling Tigers. Well, that's about the end of it for now from Parkinsaw, MI, the imaginary land of hardy Parkinsonians. Next time we'll reveal the innovative "Shave N' Pooper", the product for the bathroom that keeps on giving. Incidentally, this imaginary world needs feedback from the real world. Designed to produce a few chuckles and a grin or two, we need to know if we're meeting our goal. We're especially concerned about offending some people while creating our idea of funny situations involving PD, which, of course, is no laughing matter. John Bjork, 60/20 (that's not my eye sight)