May is a very special month for Vern and me. We were married on May 13, 1944, which made this our 61st Anniversary! It surely doesn't seem that long ago we said our vows in the little, white, wooden church that stood where the new, big, brick Bethany Lutheran Church stands today… corner of Latona and Woodlawn… about a half block from our home. Since I grew up in the house next door, Bethany has always been part of my neighborhood, except for the seven years Vern and I lived in Lake Forest Park…. May of 1944 to June of 1951.

     On May 15, Hildy hostessed a work party here to bring some neatness into our out-of-control yard. John has been keeping the lawns cut and doing whatever else he can during the four hours he and Nan are here each Thursday. He keeps my precious bird feeders filled and the patio tidied enough so that we can go out there to sit, should we be so inclined. However, as anyone who has ever been here would tell you, this is a big yard and the terraced front is impossible to keep up without constant attention. Those who showed up did an amazing amount of cleanup. Much appreciated by Vern and me..
     On a sad note, one of our vine maple trees had died over the winter, so had to be removed.. a hard job, but well accomplished by Jack with a chain saw and help from his Mom and others. I'm wondering, now, what the plants that depended on that tree for shade will do without it. I guess we will find out, won't we?
     Dan baked a BIG pizza from Papa Murphy's, which we enjoyed on our very tidy patio. We had snap peas and baby carrots and chips and choices of soda. Our plan to finish it off with ice cream bars was foiled when we discovered someone (one of us who live here) had left the freezer door open and the bars were all mooshy! They still taste alright, so Vern and I are putting the misshapen lumps into dishes and eating them with spoons. Weird. The sticks are still impaled in an empty shell of chocolate and all the ice cream is on the outside!

     Vern's story from his childhood "Swimming Down by the Camel's Hump" was published in the Ballard News Tribune along with a very nice picture of him taken by Nan. They had gone over to the bluff above Shilshole so he could show her where the "camel's hump" trail used to go down to the water. A lady who lived right there invited them in, so they could view the area from her front deck. Nan's picture shows Vern and an overview of Golden Gardens Beach below.

     My story about the camellia that only bloomed on its back side when I persisted in calling it "mackalia" was publish in June/July issue of Birds & Blooms and I actually got paid for it. I'm getting quite a fat scrapbook of published work. Who would have ever thought??!!

     Our big news around here is that John's wife Nan and her Mom Carolyn are having a 2 1/2 week's travel together. Carolyn's grandmother was born in a little village in Wales, so she and Nan have been researching their background and learning about Wales. They have even used a video and tape to learn some of the Welsh language.
     They left last Tuesday evening, landing at Heathrow near London in the middle of the night. They rented a car and drove to the small town of Winchester where they stayed in a hostel. Next morning, they found a kiosk along the street where they could e-mail John to let him know they were okay. Nan said, among other things, "Imagine being able to say we were kept awake by the tolling of the bells of Winchester Cathedral!" They will have a great time together. Both are "look-on-the-bright-side" people and Carolyn is strong and healthy at age 70.
     From Winchester, they went to Stonehenge then over a bridge (she didn't specify where) into Wales. Second night spent in Cardiff, Wales, if all went as planned. They have a map marked with the places their family lived while there and hope to visit all of them. Nan has set up a real network of people to visit and places to go, so I'm sure it will be wonderful. She has her camera and there will be more pictures. (Click for Wales Trip Website)
 

Nan, Carolyn and their Welsh Family - The Isaacs: Thomas Erfyl & Kathleen and 3 of 4 sons.
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     Vern and I went to the Ballard High School Golden Beaver's banquet last week. I didn't know many except some of the Vasa people who were there: Elsie Stenesen, Karre Stanis, and Elsie Busch. Vern knew a few more, but not many. I don't think I will go next time. It was nice to see Elsie Busch and we could visit as we were at the same table, but the other two sat elsewhere, so we only got to visit for a minute. The ranks of the 1937 graduates (Vern's) are getting very thin.
I went to Roosevelt. I have never gone to a reunion, mostly because the friends I had in school were friends I saw, or heard from, without going to the reunions.

     Jack is now in charge of Shoreline College's website. He pulled it up for me when he was here and it is very impressive! He is also doing so well in the computer class he is taking that the Prof. has suggested he do some tutoring. Makes you proud.

     Russ and Jana will be spending the summer out here and will be living in Dave's cabin near Skykomish. Russ has plans to build and sell skateboards. Last I heard, they will return to Colorado in the Fall.
     Russ was recently graduated from Western State College of Colorado at Gunnison with a degree in Outdoor Recreation. Jana has a degree in Nutrition from a college in Texas.

     The story I wrote after we returned from Tiger that was triggered by a "flashback" (or maybe a dream) about the time a packrat snatched Mom's silver thimble from her workbasket while we all sat there watching, will be published in the 2005 Big Smoke. I asked Heather to make me a cartoon of a mischievous rodent, since the only pictures I could find were too "ratty". Her "packy" is priceless and will be published along with the story, as will Nan's wonderful "white-on-black" drawing of the inside of our log house as it appeared to me in my "vision". I can hardly wait!

     Dave and Anne are home from their Colorado/Utah automobile trip. There will be pictures and good talk about that trip soon.

     Thought for the day: I've been told by some that I sometimes have a strange way of looking at things… That I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
~Anon (but it feels right to me)

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

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