Ella Jean Sixkiller

A new Grandma admires her grandchild.
Ella Jean Sixkiller was born at 11:50 p.m. Sept. 23. Carol Engstrom Lussier is Stan's high school classmate and long-time friend. She and her husband Gary proudly announced this little addition to their family today.
(We have no idea what Carol Jean's cast is about.)
Congratulations, Gary and Carol. Oh. And parents Leah and Jesse too.

An anniversary in St. Paul

Thirty-three years ago today, Stanley Hilding Rolfsrud wed Kathleen Neilson Blethen under a spreading maple tree in Lake Ann Park, Chanhassen.
The marriage has proved to be more durable than the maple.
While it is true that older people tend to arrive early for just about everything, it was yesterday's beautiful weather that inspired the couple to celebrate their anniversary a day early. Really.
They spent the day in St. Paul, Kathleen's birthplace, revisiting favorite haunts and neighborhoods. Although Kathleen hasn't lived in the saintly city for more than 40 years, she still considers herself a St. Paul girl, and entertains a fantasy that she'll someday live there again.

Stan has agreed that attaining St. Paul is a worthy goal, and if a mansion on Summit Avenue isn't in reach, then perhaps someday a nice handicap-accessible condo near Lexington and University, close enough to the new light rail line so that Kathleen can wheel him on to it for a day trip to the ball park.
We all must dream.
For the time being, a road trip to the Como Park conservatory and zoo, a drive around Lake Como, and lunch at Cafe Latte on Grand Avenue will just have to suffice.

Stan shoots an Eagle

Photo by Tom Story

Stan with his eyewitness, celebrating at the CreeksBend 19th hole.
Greg's credentials are impeccable. He was a member of  the First Lutheran
Church in Alexandria --  where he and Stan never missed Sunday School.

No one in the threesome actually saw it happen. Sun, shadows and old eyes prevented clear observation of this singularly rare event. So when Stan approached the flag on the Par 5 No. 9 at New Prague's CreeksBend Golf Course and didn't see his ball today, the first place he looked was on the back side of the green. Victimized by ill-founded optimism many times before, he didn't want to jinx himself. So it was his playing partner, Greg Johnson, who actually discovered the ball down in the cup.
"Eagle," he declared simply, looking up, flagstick in hand.
Neighbor Tom Story and Stan have been out together many times in the past, but this was the first time either had played with Stan's childhood friend. Greg and Stan grew up in Alexandria, attending the same church and graduating from high school together. He was Mayo and Pearl's kid.

Tom

Greg was promptly awarded an assist for Stan's Eagle. Greg wears a handy-dandy range-finding Garmin (Costco, $149) on his left wrist and therefore was able to tell Stan that he was positioned exactly 113 yards from the pin on his third stroke, which happens to be the perfect distance for Stan's nine iron -- when he hits it properly and all the planets are in alignment.
Besides golf, some talk today was about Vietnam, where both Tom and Greg served in areas not too far distant. Then there was old home stuff: Greg took piano from Stan's Dad, hated it. Skipped out by steering his bicycle in the wrong direction on his way to the dreaded lessons. In Junior High, it was learned today, Greg and Stan were both asked out on separate occasions by the same really cute girl. Dumbfounded, both had dropped the ball.
Stories and laughter abounded, making it clear that it's not about the golf or the occasional accidental Eagle. It's about the beautiful fall day, lasting friendships and good times spent together.
------------
Personal footnote to Stan's sister Sosie:
An Eagle is a good thing that happens very rarely in golf. On a Par 5, you have five hits of the ball to get the ball in the hole and that's a good thing if you do (Par for the course). If you get the ball in the hole in just four hits, that's called a Birdie and that's a very good thing. However, if you get the ball in the hole in just three hits, that's an Eagle and that's a very, very good thing. Actually, it's more an accident than skill, but we like to think of it as pure skill nonetheless, and worthy of accolades and congratulations. So go ahead.

Encountered

Some artwork would be nice.

Charley Ries left so fast today we didn't get a chance to take his picture. But our old family friend and carpenter did a bang up job installing two new countertops, base shoe, crown moulding and a clothes basket shelf, bringing the laundry room just a few touch-ups away from completion.
He rang the doorbell at 7:45 a.m. and left by eleven.
It was fun working with Charley again. Over the past 30 years he's done a lot of work for the newspaper company, mostly shelves, partitions, work tables, cabinets, archival storage and other oddments that the general manager dreamed up. The former Shakopee fire chief is a man of many talents and a willing and practical problem solver. Ten years ago he built a shoe cabinet with drawers and a CD player nook beside our mud room door. We tossed the CD player and the nook and installed a new matching top today. We'll show you that home improvement as soon as we get the wall painted.
Charley once blew out an entire fuse box while pulling down some light fixtures during an office remodel, shutting down the entire operation. So we called him "Sparky."
He was always patient, precise and quality-conscious. He still is.

Today's NFL winners

Kathleen (who got six of eight last week) predicts these winners: Noon kickoffs; home games are in boldface.
Somebody won last week. Today's pot is $1000.

.666 percent  on the year

Minnesota (Last week she correctly picked Chicago.)
Green Bay
St. Louis
Tennessee
New England
New Orleans
Detroit
New York Giants
Houston

Update:
Uff da. Katie missed 5 out of 9 today, getting only four correct. Better luck next week. :(

Everybody had the same idea

 Photos by Stan Rolfsrud

We don't usually spend much time at the Renaissance Festival any more. Get there early on a promising day, grab a couple of popovers with honey butter and look over the usual selection of pots, jewels, jesters, bosoms and loudmouths.

It was a spectacularly crisp and gorgeous day. Sixty degrees, dry and sunny. MMM.
We watched a glass-blower create a large three-legged vase and even learned a bit about this arcane craft. Did you know that a glass-blower doesn't really have to blow that much? Heat constantly expands air so if he just blocks the hollow tube with his lips, the trapped air on the other end heats up and expands the glass bulb for him. Interesting, we thought.
We looked for a suitable vase for the bathroom. Didn't find one.
After our quick tour of the premises to be sure everything was in its usual place, we departed at noon and were aghast to meet oncoming throngs on all the feeder roads leading into the fair, hoping for a spot in the Queen's free parking lot. It was such a nice day, people crawling along in their cars didn't even appear to be grumpy yet. Two hapless Redi-Mix truck drivers trapped in the mile-long left-turn-lane lineup on County Road 78 may have had some opinions to share, but maybe it was all in a day's work for them. Locals should know to stay away on weekends.

We haven't seen it this choked up since a delighted King George Coulam declared the Festival to be full up, sold out, closed one fine Saturday afternoon in the 70s. He told Stan it was the best thing he could do for business. The word would get out and even more would come the next day.
Based on today's observations, they're still coming.
Huzzah.

Red Wing connection

Chocoholics on Kell Avenue were excited to learn that a prized shipment from the Red Wing Confectionary would be dead dropped at the Crave restaurant in Edina today. True to their word, our suppliers, Larry and Carolyn Veeder, arrived as promised and we immediately secured the stash in a plain brown shopping bag: handmade Turtles and Sea Salt Caramels -- two boxes in dark chocolate, one in milk chocolate, were swiftly tucked away.
That connection complete, there was ample time for a leisurely chat over lunch.
Under old business, we learned more about the mansion Larry sketched years ago. Cindy from Worthington had recently purchased one of the old prints and was curious about it. She tracked the artist down through this blog, you read about it here. Anyway, it turns out that the mansion is on Third Street in Red Wing, is sitll occupied and Larry drew it so long ago he has no idea when he did it. They've now responded by email to Cindy, so she's up to date too. She said she'd like to see the building some day just for fun. Sounds like a road trip to Red Wing! Fall colors anyone?

Blue Buttes photo by Marty Kuefler on Flikr.
Can't wait to see Larry's rendition.

Under new business, Larry has completed a painting of the famed Blue Buttes near Keene, North Dakota. The custom painting was ordered last month by his cousin Harold and Marilyn Rolfsrud, who have farmed near the Buttes for decades. Larry grew up in the neighborhood, so is quite familiar with the subject. Larry, Harold and Stan's grandparents, Nils and Rebecca Rolfsrud, homesteaded the land in 1904. The landscape painting will be personally delivered soon, an instant heirloom, if that's possible.
The handmade chocolate samples were well-received later today at Kell Avenue, with Benita and Curt getting first dibs, while Mom, tuckered from exercises earlier today, napped in a nearby chair.
You snooze, you lose, Mom.

Simple, somber sweetness from Steve's Studio

The composer, at left, with Cousins Marcy and Jennifer.

The newest music to emerge from the 10th Floor Studio in the Midtown Lofts surprised us with its mellow tone and pensive phrasing. You gotta hear it.

Our nephew, Steve Letnes, just released "The Long Goodbye," a poignant and wistful melding of piano and cello that sets a sweet mood evoking thoughts of vulnerability, never-forgotten love, regrets and a road not taken. To us, anyway. 

One listener wondered publicly as to whether Steve's Uncle Virg or his Uncle Stephen had been volunteered to supply the cello lines. No, neither one had, the composer has assured us. The cello you hear is a software creation, a very reliable source of musical magic. No help was needed from anyone outside his tightly-wired closet studio to create the simple, yet magnificent opus. 

This comes as a relief to all of us, certainly to his uncles, who put down their cellos long ago to take up other pursuits. Now press "Play" and enjoy.

Three eligibles. . .

Kathleen and Stan hosted these three Norwegian bachelors tonight, mixing a little tax business with a lot of fun. Glen and Claude Bragstad joined brother Virg for cocktails before we all went out to dinner at the clubhouse. The three are all certified public accountants, among other things, and enjoy talking about finance and the markets, so today's Wall Street bounce made an interesting topic. . . for them.
We enjoyed visiting these two old family friends again, connected as we are through college, work places, relatives, shared experiences and much more. And it's always nice to see Virg. :)