Your PGA Report

Dan Neilson and his brother-in-law, Stan, walked Hazeltine National today, measuring, looking, and checking on the PGA Championship practice round. . . so you don't have to. We've got a couple hundred photos (20 at least of Tiger Woods for Kathleen, his biggest fan), and a close personal report on a 17-year-old Japanese sensation.

And then, we have the oddest coincidence of the day to report. You know how when you go to Disneyland or Norway you always run in to somebody you know? Well today, we didn't see anybody. Nobody familiar. Until we watched our raw movie footage, that is, and then, omigosh, there he was, you could tell by the spot on the top of his head and by the voice, somebody we know oh so very well. We must have actually touched in the crowd. Yet we just didn't know it at the time. He didn't know. Ships in the night. Incredible.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. More on that later.

Tiger Woods with his caddy, Steve Williams, second shot on number 18 today. In the background is the bunker where Tiger made his famous recovery shot, one of his all-time favorites, back in 2002.

Mom Gets Fan Mail

Mom's YouTube rendition of "My Heart Ever Faithful" soldiers on with almost 4,000 views to date. Today it drew this comment:
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vibraharp226
This is why You Tube can be so great - because I would never have known - albeit in a small way - this lovely, talented person. I really enjoyed this heartfelt rendition of this piece.
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You Go, Mom
(Readers can hear her voice again by scrolling down the left margin under Home Movies and clicking on -- Mom sings "My Heart Ever Faithful.")

Hold the snake stories, please

During The Great Depression, the late Erling Rolfsrud wrote and sold stories to magazines. He dashed them off on a typewriter in a farm shed in western North Dakota and mailed them anywhere he thought they might be published.

I have a box of Dad's notes and check stubs from the era, recently delivered to me by my sister, Sosie, who has been instructed to peruse and organize some of mother's closets.

The box also has a touching exchange of letters, spanning 30 years, between Erling and his only brother, Halvor. Halvor, who never reached ninth grade, ran the family farm and became a respected state senator, among many other things. He had some success at farming and invested wisely in a number of businesses. He was also Erling's banker and constantly loaned him money. The typed letters always begin, "Dear Brother," and what follows is respectful prose, often with Dad worried that he should be paying interest on money he borrowed to pay his bookbinders, and Halvor gently discouraging it. "You shouldn't charge interest to a brother," he wrote. "The money wasn't being used anyway."

The big brother gave advice too, notably when Erling was having difficulty selling the little rural Deerwood house and barn and writing quarters. An avid newspaper reader, Halvor suggested advertising Dad's little spread in Minneapolis and Chicago papers where some "city slicker" might want a hobby farm. That was in 1950. "It is easier to buy something than to sell something," Halvor sagely added.

A little black book documents 1932-33 income for stories like "Twinkey," Bobbie's Cold," "Cow With The Crooked Horns," "Two Riddle Rhymes," and so on. Typical income was about a dollar for each. The rejection letters Dad received were terse but polite, often printed or mimeographed forms from the editors of magazines like "Play Mate" (huh? No, really, actual playmates, as in children, not Hefnerites.) And Grit and others.

But one Chicago editor took the time to append a personal note, explaining why his company was turning down Dad's submission: "We've run two or three rattlesnake stories recently, and will have to lay off this topic for a while," he confided. "Women readers are not partial to snake yarns."

Sweet-swinging Blake

Lifetime baseball fan St. Paul Katie recently asked young Blake Underwood about league action this summer on the Des Moines diamonds. She wondered about his swing. Today Blake's Mom sent us a clip of her son in action. We froze a frame and found a terrific approach, just right for the Metrodome. See for yourself in these 18 seconds.

Sosie's trove

Steve and Nancy hosted the Rolfsrud siblings last night for post-nuptial steak and ale in their Mankato home. It was a delightful evening that capped the excitement of the Breck/Mitch wedding week, and we smiled and reflected on those events in the calm afforded by lovely surroundings.

Sosie motored in from Alexandria with a rental car trunk stuffed with distributables. Mother had instructed her to go through some of her closets. This she did with apparent relish and now she divvied the treasures. . . and the trash. . . with sisterly fairness and impartiality.

We trucked our take home to Shakopee last night and now, during a long, glorious morning rainfall, began sorting.

At the top of the pile was this (above) 44-year-old color photograph in remarkably good condition, taken by an unknown during the black and white era. It was tucked beside a tattered copy of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.

The photograph was taken at the Alexandria Country Club during one of the only visits Stan had ever made to this elite private retreat. The moment was the Student Council Banquet as Stan handed a gavel to his successor, Jim Ahlfors.

Notably, Stan wore a white linen suit, acquired pre-prom in 1964 at Bob's Clothes Shop on Broadway where "Bob and the Twins Want to See You!" One of the twins sold gullible Stan the white suit for $49, which seems like a bargain today, but one which pinched Our Father's Norwegian face, when he learned of his son's impractical, if not uppity sartorial decision-making.

Today the rain continues to fall as we scan the splendid Dickensian prose, realizing we've never read David Copperfield and may now actually have time to do so. The 1898 edition was owned and carefully annotated in the margins by Mom's late brother Ralph, which will undoubtedly add to the pleasure of finally reading it.

Thanks to Sosie.

We'll doubtless report on some of the other treasures as they come to the top. We also await some lovely vignettes that mother wrote in long-hand about her childhood experiences when she was prompted to do so by her grandchildren.

One story supposedly is about mother playing and hiding in the wheat field, and subsequently blaming the damaged wheat on the pig. You'll hear the end of that tale when Sosie delivers it.

Women of Abbey Point

The first Wednesday of the month featured a potluck dinner on Abbey Point, attended by almost all of the 24 residents in the homeowners association. Why the first Wednesday?

That's when civil defense sirens shriek, reminding everyone that you don't cook tonight, you gather with neighbors, usually at the clubhouse down the road. Call it a memory peg, if you will. We call it the dinner bell.

Last night Bill and Ann hosted us in their beautiful home overlooking Stonebrooke No. 15. A variety of hors de oeuvres, entrees and desserts paraded through their front door, ready for elegant presentation and service by our hosts. It was their planning, not luck, that made the evening.

The featured entree was slabs of Lake Michigan salmon, caught a couple weeks ago by residents Joe and Mina. Their massive catch was featured on this blog recently and last night's preparations were magnificent, some seared with a chutney dressing, prepared by Resident Gourmet Greg, carefully trained in the Byerly's kitchen classrooms for our personal use.

And by the way, don't anybody say that Norwegians don't know how to act or dress casually.

Triple-teamed

Ford and Jenn are moving to Shakopee and today was a major moving day. . . so Kaia dropped by to give the move-in team some relief. Kathleen took this picture before returning Emily to her mother's house... leaving Kaia and Stan HOME ALONE. Everything went okay, Kaia didn't cry, just laughed at Stan's face. Meanwhile, a banished Birdie whimpered from her kennel.

Huerta's Big Adventure

Linda and Ron's daughter, Alyssa, and son-in-law, Corey, (pictured above) drove their family from Colorado to Minnesota to attend the Mankato wedding and explore Minnesota. They joined other Letnes family members here. In all, there were 14. Linda reports on the adventure:

Hi Stan,

The Huertas are on their way back to Colorado. Nina e-mailed us on her computer last night that they had made it to their York (Nebraska) motel. They should be home in Colorado this afternoon. We had a wonderful time together and now we can visualize all of them in our home.

The boys went swimming, fishing with Erik, biking with Ron. Shana took Nina shopping for a computer bag while the fathers played football (not quite the Kennedy clan yet) with their children in our backyard.

Anja loved the dogs, Hannah loved holding Milla. What fun it was for Ron and me to visit upstairs in Ron's office while our children gathered and visited below us on the patio. It was exciting to have them all together here in Blaine. Usually it has been just two kids at a time.

On Sunday night I conked out downstairs, but Ron reported that they were having a rocking good time upstairs in the family room. They left the upstairs in meticulous fashion, even making up the guest bed with fresh sheets for our next guests.

On spotting Memmo and Antonio in the back of the station wagon, Ron and I both remembered our first trip with Nina and Emillio about 9 years ago. They, too, were sitting in the back of the wagon, while up front we marveled at how good the then four and five year olds were on a very long road trip. There was no need to admonish them all the way from Fort Collins to Moorhead. Amazing.

Good memories, and now more memories to add to it. We caravaned through the Twin Cities and as they confidently passed us by, waving wildly, we wished them safety for their ride home. Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday.

Love, Linda

On the Boardwalk

Sisters Sosie and Becky strolled the historic riverfront in downtown Minneapolis during a brief visit to the Mill City Sunday. Sosie will return to California soon; Becky goes back to her summer home in Iowa. . . after a visit to the local IKEA, of course.

For her part, Sosie reports magnificent retailing at The Shoppes in Maple Plain, a pit stop she made Monday, driving her rental up I-94 to Alexandria.

Here's Grandpa Al with Hunter, appreciating the view of the stone arch bridge, afforded by the new Guthrie Endless Bridge, just upstream from the new 35W bridge.