“Fiddler on the Roof” is an adaptation of a story originally written in Yiddish and published in 1894. The “Fiddler” stands for survival, which is what the Minnesota Twins did through Gardy’s “joy of the game” and “Fiddler” perseverance.

They had no business being where they were, tied with Detroit playing for the division championship, but as one of “Fiddler’s” songs proclaims: “Wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles,” the Twins have achieved the near impossible.

By the time you read this the Twins may have gone no farther, they may be outplaying the Yankees or they are getting stomped by the Yanks, as has occurred so many times in the past.

All this ran through my mind as I sat down to write this week’s column. I realize that glory is short lived and the Twins may have gone on to greater glory, (unlikely), or on the other end of spectrum, folded their tent and left the overwhelming noise of the Metrodome far behind.

Kay and I attended the final game of the regular season — went home happy with certificates of attendance in hand. We even got offered five dollars apiece for our used tickets as we exited the Dome. As I was thinking about the game, the win and the memorabilia to pass on, I thought that in writing as in life, one should seize the day. Carpe Diem as the Romans would say, celebrate the day, not worry about what was yet to be.

We planned for months to attend the last game in the Metrodome, not dreaming it would hold the importance it did. We got an early start and planned to be there two hours ahead of game time, in order to try for a front row in the cheap seats. We stopped at McDonald’s in Cannon Falls on the way up for breakfast sandwiches and coffee. All was right with the world, the car was running smoothly and we were making good time. We wouldn’t get there exactly two hours before game time, but how early does a person have to get there anyway?

Wouldn’t you know it, for the first time in 10 years I missed the Metrodome exit. Got off 94, saw parts of Minneapolis we had no interest in, finally got back on 94 and headed to the Dome. We had to come in a different way and wended our way back through really crowded streets with nine out of 10 pedestrians wearing Twins’ clothing. We found our parking lot with attendees Mr. Chew and Mr. Spit.

I planned on spending 10 dollars instead of my usual five. The lot was full! We searched for another lot as people hurried past us. I finally saw a guy with a 20-dollar sign. I asked him if he had open spot. He did and I thankfully took him up on it. Any port in a storm. Besides that’s what Viking fans pay on a regular basis.

We hurried as fast as our legs would carry us, beat the game start by more than an hour and found the right field and center field stands full. We didn’t know where to sit. We found an usher and she probably feeling sorry for a couple of old guys and found me a seat in the first row next to the railing with Kay right behind me. We were very thankful and it only occurs to me as I write this that I should have tipped her.

We cheered with the rest of the fans as we watched the Twins’ home runs fly into the stands. There was only one tense moment and reliever Jon Rauch put a stop to that.

We, along with 50,000 other fans laughed, hollered and clapped as “miracles of miracles” and “wonder of wonders” our Twins won and tied for the division championship.