Hi, Family and Friends...

    Time has slipped by on me, so some of this isn't really late news. I hope you will find it of interest, anyway .

    Vern has been dictating some of his stories to a tape recorder and Nan has been putting them into printed form on the computer. Since he is not inclined to use the computer, I made copies of them and put them into a special 3 ring binder titled "Vern's Stories". So far there are three. We will add to them as they are made ready. It was a surprise for him and he was suitably pleased.

    On the 8th, we went out to Hildy and Dan's for brunch. There was a great sausage and egg baked dish (I must get that recipe), fresh fruit and fresh baked cinnamon rolls.
Go-o-o-d!
     While Hildy and I were sitting outside under the shade of a tree, the Mama duck who has been bringing her babies to their pond all summer made a dash past Kitty P. J. (snoozing on the lawn). Her babies are now almost as big as she is, so it made quite a parade. To show how impressed he was, P. J. yawned and went back to sleep. Those ducks made a great splashing and quacking in the pond.... fun to watch. I understand they come almost every day for their private swimming party.
     I'm so embarrassed! I called Jack "Jeremy", again. He just laughed at me. Jeremy came by later and they really don't look that much alike. I guess I am just not expecting Jack to be as grown up as he is. (Pretty lame excuse, Gma)
     Amity came with Jeremy. She is looking for work. Since she broke her arm roller-blading she has been unable to do her former job in a grocery store. She would like to find something with a newspaper or magazine as her major was journalism.
     Hildy and I went indoors to watch the Blue Angels performing at half-time during the Seafair races. Vern and Dan had been watching the races, but neither Hildy nor I could dredge up any interest in them. The Blue Angels are a whole different thing! They are so exciting to watch! Lovely day.

    August 11: Received email from Russ from Lander, WY. He just got down from a 10 day trek through some mountains in Montana with the Wilderness Pursuit group from his college, and takes off tomorrow on a 21 day Leadership learning hiking trip in the Absoroka Mountains of Wyoming with a specialized group, which, if memory serves me, is the National Outdoor Leadership School.
     Later, we heard he had completed this tour. Some of their group had met up with grizzly bears, who, fortunately ran from them. He found the hike almost boring it was so easy for him, but knew he had learned a lot which will help him in future endeavors. He surely is an outdoorsman!

    Neighbor lady, Joyce, paid me a visit riding her brand-new recumbant tricycle. At age 77, she was as excited as a 5 year old. It was a joy to see her with her new toy. She says she feels a little silly, but not too much. My answer to that..... "You look good on it! Keep it up...." She does, too. Look good, that is.
     Her housemate, Clydean, who is working her way through the misery of bone cancer, is feeling better. Since she is wearing a pressure stocking on the affected leg, the pain has lessened. She is one tough lady. I am so impressed with her courage and the matter-of-fact way she she handles what is thrown at her.... and there have been a lot of things.

    I sent a check to the Tiger Store Historical Center and heard back from Lee Stark, who runs the place, there will be a Memorial Book set up and that our stories of Joseph and Mary Pfister will be the first ones in the book.
     This clip is from the Selkirk Sun newspaper:

    August 17 was John's birthday. I hope it was a happy one, John-Boy! I hear he wanted to keep it low-key, so he and Nancy stayed home and barbecued some steaks. She made him a blueberry buckle, which is something he likes better than cake. (Nan brought us a sample when she came next day. Oh, yummy.... 'Twas delicious)

    Shall close on that sweet note..... and go make myself a peanutbutter and raspberry jam sandwich.

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

    John and I spent several hours at the Archives again, yesterday. We may be the first people to get tossed out of there one of these days. I was reading information from the 1910 census for him to type into a special form on his computer (laptop). Name: "Harry Magget"..... John gave me that "are you kidding me?" look Then, I "heard" what I had said which sounded like "Hairy Maggot"...
     We both got the giggles and sat there shaking with silent (as much as possible) mirth. Every once in a while, a snort would come out and we would be off again. When we finally got ourselves under control, we finished out the line for "Harry". Next was his wife... "Mary". John asked, "Merry Maggot?" and we were shaking like a couple of earthquakes again.

    On Tuesday last, we got a phone call from Ryan saying he was twenty minutes out from destination at WSU. He had to check in early as he is going to be part of Security for Waller Hall, his dormitory. He called again the next morning to say he had humped all his stuff up three flights of stairs as Waller has no elevator. Good thing he is young and strong.

    August is a multi-birthday month for us. Megan on the 6th, Vern's cousin, Helen, on the 7th (She is now 92!), Thomas on the 11th, and John J. on the 17th. I remember well the August he was born. It was an unusually warm one like this year and I was very uncomfortable. Will have to admit he is worth the discomfort.

    Thomas' Uncle Frank has been invited to show some of his paintings at a show. He sent me a couple of them by e-mail. He's a talented man. Appreciate very much being able to share them with you-all.

Splash

Basket

    This is Seafair Weekend, so the Blue Angels are here. I had a good look at them as they flew overhead just as I was coming out of the drugstore. Most unusual.... they were obviously not trying to be in their famous perfect formation. That will come later. They are so beautiful in flight!

    The August issue of The Seattle Sun, which is their History Issue, has a story written by John about Seattle's Simple Trunion Bascule ("Teeter-totter) bridges (Fremont, Ballard, University, and Montlake). There is also one by me about the first time I saw Edwin Teel, who started the Vitamilk Dairy mega-business... a Green Lake presence for many years. He had come into our little Green Lake State Bank to borrow money to buy himself a truck....the first of many.

    We had a visit from Anne Evans this morning. She is the new tenant in the house across our alley. She is a student at Bastyr University and is very happy there. The campus in north of Seattle and is what used to be St. Edward's Seminary. She is a charming young lady and it was a great pleasure to have her share our coffee this morning.
     Anne has an extremely well-behaved dog named Lola... a big, black, Lab/Weimaraner mix, to keep her company. Coming from California, she has few friends in this area, but, being as friendly as she is, I'm sure she will have no trouble making new ones.
     Dave stopped by on his way home after watching "his" Anne who was rowing in a competition on Green Lake this morning. She rows in an eight-man shell. Dave has just started in the same sport, but his choice of craft is a one-man shell.
     It must be great exercise. They both look wonderful.

Well, enough ear-bending for now.

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor