HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VERN. IT'S YOUR 85TH!!

    We celebrated the GRAND OCCASION with a Birthday Bash... well attended and enjoyed by all, we hope. A beautiful (and delicious) cake was the centerpiece and Nancy found room on it for 85 candles. When it was lit, it was a sight to behold! Our retired firefighter, Dan, had an uneasy look and I must admit, I was glad when Mr. Birthday Boy blew them out with only a couple of tries. It was an awesome sight!

MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY, VERN !!

    Paul and Liz are glad to report that John-R is now at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where he will be taking training for his new assignment at Bangor, Washington. In about four weeks, he will be driving up here, arriving in time, we hope, to help celebrate Molly's birthday, on December 21. Can hardly wait. His presence will put a little extra luster on the Christmas season!

    Phone call from Russ. He seems to be doing very well with his new college at Gunnison, Colorado. Between school times, he is blasting around the mountains on his mountain bike to the detriment of a couple of front teeth. Ouch! It is very cold there already, and there will soon be snow enough to ski and snowboard... so he is happy.
    His dad, Dave, has his weekday ski pass already and expects to do his own share of skiing at Stevens' Pass this winter. We heard on this morning's news (11-18) there was a big snowfall overnight in the mountains. Were you listening, Dave?

    Heather called her Gpa on relay on his birthday, making us both very happy. When he asked how she knew it was his birthday, she told him, very matter-of-factly, "Well, Grandpa, I DO have a calendar!"
    She is doing very well in her classes. I heard some mention of "A" grades. She is going for a Master's in Education that will allow her to teach in either a deaf or hearing school.
    In an e-mail from her, she told me she had taken her hammer to class to demonstrate how the hammer throw is done. She says she thinks she made an impression! I can only imagine!

    This coming Friday, November 21st, we have been invited to the unveiling of a portrait of Florence and J. R. Burke, which Michael commissioned as a present to his Mom, Suzie. It will hang in the office of Fremont Dock Company. What a nice tribute. Our whole family is looking forward to the event.

November 19, 2003.

    Congratulations to Frank and Anne Withrow! They were married yesterday in New York. I hope we meet Anne sometime. I know we all were happy to meet Frank at Heather and Thomas' wedding.

    Will close on that happy note.

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

    Happy Birthday, Brother Jack. I wish you were here so I could give you a big hug.

John Joseph "Jack" Pfister

    I found this quote in this morning's paper. I don't know anything about the person quoted, Patrick Overton, but I like the quote: "When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand on, or, you will be taught how to fly."

    I spent many happy hours looking at the digital photos taken by Paul, Liz, Nan, and David on our epic trip to Tiger. I want to have some made into prints, but had a hard time tossing any. Thank goodness Molly can get a special rate for making the prints. Even so, the task of putting them into an album would be daunting, if I wasn't so pleased at the thought of seeing them all over again. What a memorable time!

Nov. 7, 2003

    I saw Dr. Lombardo, who checked my vision and told me it hadn't worsened since April, when he checked it last. That was a surprise. It seemed to me my sight was much worse lately, and I felt sure the macular degeneration (or the hole in the macula) had worsened. Guess my imagination was working overtime. Cool it, lady!
     New glasses aren't needed. Everything seems stable. He said he would like to "shepherd" me through this, although he says there is nothing to do that I am not already doing. It is just a matter of accepting the limitations and keeping a positive attitude. He okayed the vitamin and lutein regimen as very good.
    He told me where to look at Northgate for that piece of equipment to set up beside the computer which will transfer the print onto the computer screen where I can enlarge the type size to make it readable, so guess I will check that out.

November 8, 2003

    Great Surprise Party for Anne. It was at her sister Betsy's home, and we got to meet Betsy, her sons, Anne's sister Gretchen, and her brother John and his wife (also a Gretchen). We have been hearing about all these nice people for a long time, since Dave spends so much time with them now. It was so nice to meet them in person.
    Liz drove us out in her Jeep Liberty, with Vern up front with her and Paul and me in the back seat. I managed to swing myself in without any trouble (except Paul saying something about an orangutan) On the way out, we saw the eclipse! It was so clear to see, it was like a special viewing just for us!

    There were 45 - 50 people at the party. Friends of Anne's, some for many years and some new friends from her rowing club. Very eclectic group and a wonderful mix. Doggie Boonie was right at home looking for handouts and a pat on the head. Darling Boonie, a very winning canine.

    When it was time to leave, I thought I could do my orangutan act as well as when we came out. I was pretty tired. When I tried to grab the bar and swing myself aboard.....nothing happened. My arm couldn't lift the beef. Then John went to help and dug his fingers into my ribs, which made me laugh....and made me even more helpless. Paul told me to turn around and he tried to pull me up onto the seat. That was funny, too...... at least to me. I'll bet there are two big sons who think I'm a pain in the butt. Sometimes my sense of humor is not an asset!

November 13, 2003

    Today is Anne's "real" birthday, although her party was last Saturday, so

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE!

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

     Oh, how I wish we could have gone with him! Thomas' Uncle Frank just returned from two weeks in Ireland! Had a fantastic time with a group of people ranging in age from 23 to 84, including his youngest daughter. He says Western Ireland is a lot like Southern California, with palm trees and stuccoed houses! Lots of castles, stone fences.... I remember John telling about how beautiful Ireland is. He visited there the year he turned 21.

     Today is the Open House at History House for the North Central Neighborhoods, one of which is, of course, Green Lake. I'm told they are using my book of "Reflections on Green Lake" as the centerpiece of one display and backing it with some Pfister/Nordstrand family pictures, with reference numbers to tie the pictures to a related story. I feel like a celebrity.
      Hildy and Dan are taking us down, and, of course, Paul, John, and Nan will be there as staff of History House. Suzie will be doing a history of History House (she is its originator and president) and John will speak about the neighborhoods they are celebrating. Ron Richardson will explain about how the displays come into being. He has been such a blessing to the rest of us who have an interest in preserving the past.

     (Later November 1)
      History House's celebration of the North Central neighborhoods of Seattle was well attended and very much appreciated by those of us to whom that also means "home".
      It was fun to have John play guitar and sing, as he did many years ago when he used to entertain in night spots and restaurants, sometimes with a partner and sometimes as a single known as "Stringman". He hasn't forgotten how.
      Nan's second-cousin, Marilyn, came. She lives in an apartment that overlooks the Pike Place Market, Elliott Bay, and the Olympics. She can watch to see what is being unloaded at the Market and then decide what she will have for dinner! Very nice lady. Hope we get to know her better.
      I had the pleasure of telling the Vander Pols (present owners of Vitamilk Dairy) about the day in the late 1930s when her father, Edwin Teel, came into Green Lake State Bank to ask Mr. Lear for a loan to buy his first truck. From that simple beginning grew the big business that has dominated the area for a long time.
      Vitamilk has a great display on view at History House, including a cream separator and other tools, peculiar to their operation.
      I was pleased and amazed at the display they had contrived for my stories "Reflections on Green Lake" and various pictures that tied in with them. It was surely worth all the work they put in on it.... to me! Just another time when it is nice to sit back and enjoy having someone take the hard job out of my hands! I love it!

     November 2, 2003
      (e-mail from Gordon and Alice, my nephew and his wife:)
      Thanks for all the updates - we love 'em! I found the line about the boys interest in 'Trains' intriguing since Gordon's Dad had a great fascination for such. And would you believe that Mark's youngest (only 3) has already had an interest in trains for a long time? Makes you wonder - right? Take care, Alice

     (To which I responded: )
      Yes, indeed, Jack was fascinated by trains. Among my earliest memories are of being taken by Jack and Florence up to the train tracks that ran within a couple of blocks of Grandma Pfister Bratz' house in Monroe. We walked rails and tried to walk the uneven ties (fast. so the unevenness would throw you off stride). When we would "feel" a train coming, they would each take one of my hands and we would stand as close to the tracks as was "safe", just to feel the mighty swish and pull of the train's passing. I remember being scared stiff and exhilarated at the same time.
      Then, as my kids came along, at age 5, they each got a train trip with Uncle Jack, either to Portland or up to Vancouver, B.C. I think he was a courier for a jewelry firm, or something. Every one of my kids remembers that special trip with Uncle Jack as a good adventure.
      Vern had a special time with trains, too. At age 15, he wanted to go back to Chicago's World Fair. His family had gone the year before and he knew people in Chicago who would take him in when he got there. He convinced his folks to let him go, and he and another kid caught a freight out of Interbay. His Mom even packed a shopping bag full of sandwiches, which lasted them into Montana, as they switched from one freight train to another, as necessary. They mostly rode in "empty" boxcars with the "bums" (there was a whole population at that time that took this way of getting from place to place looking for work, or/and handouts), but there were times when they couldn't get inside and rode wherever they could get on.
      I used to hate it when he told this story to our kids (especially as they approached the same age, 15), but must admit it surely was a high spot for him. John and Paul made a video just this past year of him telling the story, and, even though his memory isn't too reliable these days, he was able to tell it in great detail and with great enjoyment, without missing a beat!

     (Back came the answer from Alice and Gordon:)
      Our kids each got a train ride with Grampa at age 5 also. I think they all went to Portland. When it was Sharon's turn - she and Grampa didn't get back and didn't get back and didn't get back. The rest of us had no idea what had happened. She has quite a story to tell about that one -- seems that somebody was "fishing" from a trestle along the route and unfortunately were unable to get out of the way of their oncoming train - lights out for those fisher folk - and as a result the train ride day was REALLY a long one. Leave it to Sharon to get the biggest train ride with Grampa!

     I have a request for all of you. Lee Stark just wrote that her husband, Curt, (the man who brought the metal detector to our picnic to help us find spikes and nails and such) will be undergoing surgery for a tumor in one of his eyes on November 12 at University Hospital. Can we all concentate on Curt as hard as we can that day? Between all of us, we should be able to build up quite a force! I have great confidence in us.

     Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor