Papers, please

Photo by Stan Rolfsrud

While making our weekly football picks at the horse track today, we stumbled onto a dog show. Every year about this time, the Minneapolis Kennel Club takes over Canterbury Park for an All Breeds canine event. Hundreds of hounds, shepherds, retrievers, terriers and lap dogs take over, escorted by owners and trainers every bit as interesting as their animals. Everyone was teased and primped to the nines, a little silly, of course, but great fun for all, trying to make the best impression on the judges, somewhat the odd characters themselves.

This gorgeous four-year-old Sheltie, a miniature "Lassie,"
had a big, stressful day today. He kept calm and relaxed, thanks to his faithful
companion, a 12-year-old retired dachshund, (above, left) whose show days
are over but who still has useful work to do, comforting the family contestant.

What?

The Joker

Just what were we to think? There it was, discarded without explanation amidst the construction zone chaos in our sweet Jennifer's new house. And Jennifer wasn't around yet to tell us just what this provocative, handmade poster was all about. Eventually she arrived and after saying just one word, we understood everything. The word? "Elgin." This eye-rolling world class practical joker had left his mark again, this time on Jennifer's gate, for the world, and the neighbors, to wonder about before Jennifer discovered it and pulled it down.

Groan.

It wasn't the perfect day, but it was pretty nice. . .

It wasn't a perfect day, but it was sure pretty nice.
Sunshine drove the porch temperature to 60 degrees. Not perfect, but good enough to pretend it was Indian Summer, beautiful, warming, calm, comfortable.
We watched 30 new citizens swear allegiance to the United States on the Today Show and couldn't help but get lumpy and emotional. They dearly want what we've always had, imperfect union that it is.

Yes, there is a skin of ice on the pond.
But, hey, the thermometer says it is better than 60.
Good enough. Sorry, the lighting in this photo isn't
quite right, but you get the picture anyway.

Sister Becky reported in from Florida that all is well with hubby's new knee, he limped home from rehab today. Our neighbor, Miss Carla, underwent the same operation last week. Now she's walking the cul-de-sac. Her gait is not perfect yet, but it's getting there. Late this afternoon we had a cheery mailbox meeting about getting better. We're sure Al will be right behind Carla with his shiny new joint, which, no matter what, will be a lot better than his old one.
Kathleen accidentally shut down the furnace when she changed the filter a day ago. The house was chilly this morning until we discovered the error and flipped the heat back on. Made us think about the East Coast folks still without power.
Jill cooked hot lunch for Stan and his Mom today. Jill's not the regular chef, so, she modestly explained, lunch wouldn't be as good as Marcia's. But Stan and Mom thought her chicken pot pie and stuffing was plenty good enough, plus Marcia's cherries jubilee dessert, made yesterday, capped it off nicely.
We opened a welcome email from Mom's eldest grandson, who shared some good news about his persistent music career. It would have been better to know more details, we only know that it involves a possible movie score and a director and some hope, but that was good enough to get us excited and happy for this sweet, talented man who deserves a big break real soon.
The afternoon was just barely warm enough to break out the golf clubs and walk a few holes with a handful of scuffed rescue balls. Stonebrooke looks a bit ragged around the greens and the fairways are far from their summertime perfection, but they were quite good enough for an aging optimist with an imperfect swing.
As we enjoy a cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale tonight, Kathleen leaves on a mission to take out the $10 feature at a tired old Pizza Hut on Marschall Avenue. She'll bring back the predictable sausage and pepperoni on an ordinary thin crust, but, on a day like today, it's going to be just perfect.

Wednesday we installed a handy shelf in Jennifer's bedroom in Dundas
for her to use while she is working on the rest of the house. It's not the
perfect solution, of course, but it is good enough for the time being.
The shelf is level alright, but the corner isn't square. Whatever.

Meanwhile, back at the Mall

It was Mother-Daughter freak-out on the Mall of America roller coaster when our thrill-seeking kinfolk took a turn around the track, blowing off steam after a sedate visit with their Grandma Bev. In the front row are Cherice and Lacey, followed by Melissa and Emily -- with her hands in her mouth. We're not sure what those fearsome faces are all about, but we do know it must have been a lot of fun. Now, photo fans. . . just who does the left hand in the front row belong to??? Now that's something to scream about.

Hey, Jen! Will this work?

Jennifer is moving into one third of her new house in Dundas so she can gut the rest and begin her make-over of the interior spaces in her century-old home. To do that, she needed to consolidate her living space into a rather small area, sort of like moving into an RV.
We volunteered to convert a closet into a de facto kitchen, cramming shelves and a kitchen counter into a space normally reserved for coats. Jennifer owns a ton of spices, so here's our shot at a double-decker spice rack. (Her spice jars all have labels fixed to their end caps, so they're readable from a slanted position, doubled up, as shown above.)
Tomorrow we'll deliver the one-of-a-kind project to the job site, tonight we made a trial run by setting up a mock arrangement with our groceries in our Shakopee kitchen. Should work. We'll see. Patent Pending.
Please note the thoughtful (covetous?) look on the product demonstrator below. Could it be she wants one for her own?

Bragstad Brothers counsel an old friend

Photo by Brittany

During the summer of 1971 the Bragstad brothers, Glen and Claude, drove from Minnesota to Fort Hood, Texas, to cheer up their college pal, who, after five years of hard-fought student deferments, had been drafted. They remember spending an afternoon swimming in the reservoir near Killeen, but little else, which was okay, because there were plenty of other stories left for the long-time friends to share over salad and breadsticks at the Olive Garden today.

Glen's daughter,
granddaughter

Kathleen and Stan drove to the offices of Bragstad & Bragstad LTD in Brooklyn Center today to receive competent tax advice from this respected firm. They got that and much more. After some business, there was the usual grandparent exchange and photographs of the latest trip to Norway and then stories about their springtime trip to LA to deliver Claude's son Bjorn to the Bruce Springsteen concert.
Details of the legendary 1970s parties at the Roseville Aquarius Apartments and pool as well as at the Memorial Blood Bank Night Attendant quarters were covered only briefly and will not be repeated here due to space considerations.
Glen and Claude's mother is doing fine at 90 so we chatted about her and our own 92-year-old. We then learned that the Norwegian bachelor twins are knowledgeable visitors to our nearby Shakopee racetrack. . . which set up our next meeting and report.
Good friends, great times.

Photo by Katie

California. . . of course

Photo by Sosie

This image arrived in Mom's electronic mailbox today, postmarked Napa, California, the apparent sole work product of a weekend of frolic and nonsense. Sosie breathlessly reported spotting this custom vehicle while visiting a friend's home near the Napa vineyards. Vineyard may be the operative word here, but we don't know, because Sosie did not report on any level of alcoholic consumption in the email note to her mother, so we can only speculate. . . and we will.

First measurable, miserable amount

It brings us no joy this morning to report this sad fact. The sorry evidence will disappear by the time the garbage truck gets here today, but the sting will remain. There's no denying it now. We're resigned. Just bring it on.

Kell Avenue Girls Club reunion

 Photo by Rob

On their way to the Mall of America today, these Eden Prairie residents dropped by Kell Avenue in Bloomington to see their Grandma Bev. From left are Melissa, Beverly, (wearing a horse collar???) Cherice, Lacey and Emily. It was a great reunion, a long time has passed since this group was together. Reminiscing included times spent around the piano. That brought a smile to Grandma.We have no photography from the Mall of America, where, we are told, Christmas is in a full gallop. Lord, save us all from the earthly celebrations of Jesus birth.