We are grateful for our neighbors

All join hands. . .

God is Great, God is Good

And We thank him for this Food...

Amen.

The Presbyterian preacher's kid quit, so did the Catholics, and so did others. They were now ready to eat, but Sue Peterson Krueger and Stan Rolfsrud, solid Norwegian Lutherans both, just soldiered on...

By his hands we all are fed,

Give us Lord our Daily Bread,

Ah Men
And thus began a lovely dinner at our Rock Crest neighbor's house in Tucson tonight, hosted by our new friends, Dick and Sue Krueger.

Invited guests included Nancy and Douglas Mackenzie from New Hampshire, Dick Robertson, retired, and Stan and Kathleen Rolfsrud, status unknown.

Nancy is a landscape artist, her husband is a struggling golfer and philosopher who once foiled the Stasse Secret Police while visiting his Two Star General CIA friend in East Germany during the Cold War in 1981. This all came out over a delightful dinner of marinated shish kabob -- grilled under an Arizona starlit night, oven-fried sweet potatoes, hot fresh bread, and a salad that would make the chef at Olive Garden weep.

Also, it was decided that Al Franken would make a much better choice than Garrison Keillor to end flip-flopping Norm Coleman's US. Senate career.

Retired English teacher Dick Robertson (featured on this blog earlier as the left-handed Tom Lehman) wasn't too sure about that. He's partial to Keillor, but Dick and Sue agreed with Stan and Kathleen that there is a cynical bitterness to Keillor that would not serve him well as a public servant.

We talked about our three girls (Melissa, Marcelline and Jennifer), Robertson's two girls (one in vet school -- the other teaches school like her Pa) Krueger's two sons (one is about to marry). Stan and Kathleen bragged about their grandchildren. Dick and Dick say there's a grandchild derby between them... winner to be determined later..

Dick and Sue plan on having their house painted soon. (Never fear, brothers, we are protected by the Saddlebrooke Architectural Oversight and Good Taste Committee who will moderate their application next week. They have limited the Kruegers to light beige, medium beige or chocolate beige. We are confident they'll all make the right choice.)

Lucy is Krueger's Jack Russell terrier and a very sweet dog. We are pleased to make her acquaintance and count her among our neighborhood friends. Dick is seen faithfully walking Lucy each day on the fairways. We trust he has a plastic bag in his pocket. There are rules here at Saddlebrooke, ya know.

Nancy is an artist in a restored textile mill in New Hampshire where 10 foot windows illuminate her work. We haven't seen any of it yet, but hope to display it soon on www.Rolfsruds.blogspot.com

Dick, Dick and Doug (3D) are salivating at the prospect of three innocent Rolfsrud boys willing to confront them on a local fairway. As retired gentlemen of leisure with nothing but time on their side, they believe that their constant banging of golf balls will somehow eventually yield a competitive advantage over working snowbound Minnesotans with cash in their pockets, simply trying to squeeze in a few rounds before dutifully returning to their respective responsibilities.

We feel fortunate to have fallen into a neighborhood where good company is only a house away. Steve gets absolutely no credit for this; we chose the house democratically and the spirit of the Kokopelli (see photo) was with us.


The Dogs of War, below -- Stan, Dick, Doug, and Dick.