My dad, Joseph Alois Pfister was born October 28, 1883, in Wausau, Wisconsin, to Gregor and Josefina Pfister, recent immigrants from Switzerland.  He met my mother, Mary Annie Gierhofer in Merrill, Wisconsin, and they were married there in 1905.

        The other October babies in my line are Elizabeth Abbott, son Paul’s wife, and Skyler Withrow, Hildy’s grandson, who share the 13th.

        Brother Jack’s line has his grandson Mark’s wife, Maureen Pfister, his great granddaughter, Rachel Hills, and great grandson, Evan Pfister.

        Sister Florence’s grand-daughter-in law, Shoshanna Osterfeld, rounds out the names of those I have on my birthday list for October.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS OCTOBER BABIES

I know there are more of you out there…. send me your birthday dates and I will post them on my list

        I’m grateful to Bunny for sending me the following:  “And now for a bit of light family news.  Did I ever tell you that Tammy’s daughter Rachel plays super good volleyball?  She graduated high school this past year and is now attending Skagit Valley Community College and is receiving a “stipend” to play volleyball there.  It is a small school and all - but Rachel is somewhat of a celebrity as she plays very well.  Skagit Valley is now number one in their league and last week Rachel was “player of the week” for the whole Northern Division.  Tomorrow night Gordon and I, my sister Ruth and Tammy will go up to Mount Vernon to watch the next game.  It will be fun.”
        Next time she wrote:
“We went on to the game where the gals managed to win in four games.  To win the match you must win three out of five games.  Anyway Skagit Valley is in 1st place in the Northern division of the community colleges and Rachel does very well.  I'll try to keep you posted as I find out what happens next.       
Gordon is off teaching Red Cross stuff today in Kent and I am putting stuff together for the annual Knitter's Retreat coming up this weekend at Fort Worden”

        Thank you, Bunny.  Your good news puts a nice shine on the column.

        On the home front, Vern is glad to be home from Columbia, although they were very good to him there and brought him back a long way from how ill he was when he left the hospital.  He is weak and wants to spend most of his time in bed… but at least it is his bed in his own house.  We have visiting nurses, physical therapists, etc., but more on a weekly basis than the every day help.
        After a difficult time using daily help from an agency, we found a cluster of home care ladies who have joined together to market their own homecare.  Hopefully, this will work out better for us. 

        The weather has turned cold.  I dread the morning I go to my door and see that the impatiens that have been so lovely all summer have gone black.  They have a very dramatic way of going from gorgeous, full bloom on bright green leaves to stark, black skeletons on the first really cold night.  That’s when I know winter is definitely here, whether by the calendar, or not.

        Dan’s Mom, Anne, had to be taken to the hospital for a few days. She is better now, but has been moved to a nursing home near Bellevue for rehabilitation.  The new place is much harder for Dan to visit…. It’s all through our famous freeway gridlock. Took him two hours to get home from there the last time he went.  However, it is closer for two of her other children, so hopefully they will make more visits.  We all just want her to get well fast.

        Dave and Anne W. drove over to WSU to see Ryan and partake in the Father’s Weekend event which will feature Bill Cosby.  I have asked Dave to try to remember some of the Cosby show.  He has been one of my favorite comedians for many years. 
        They will have a lot of snowy driving over Snoqualmie Pass as the flakes are coming down early this year.

        They recently drove down to St. George, Utah,to visit with Dave’s son, Russ, who works with an “Outward Bound” type of group centered there.  They drove by way of Salt Lake City and the gorgeous, colorful region south of that.  Zion National Park is very close to St. George.
 
        Vern and I attended an Elderhostel at St. George at Dixie College in the winter of 1992. It was fun to drive into the town and see “Dixie” spelled out in huge letters at the top of the cliff overlooking the town, since that has been my nickname since I was in junior high school.  Our weather was in the high 70s for the time we were there.  We were introduced to Zion by a geology professor… a lovely way to learn about that impressive area. Another class was Music of the Swing Years, taught by a man who had performed with many of the Big Bands. That is our music.  Those were the tunes we danced to when we were dating.
        Another very unique place nearby is Silver Reef, a tiny place in the desert country where an enormous amount of silver was mined many years ago.  The silver showed up in places where it was  not expected to be found… sandstone, and even petrified wood.  Some of the veins were so rich the silver could be cut with a knife and it would roll up as chocolate does when “shaved”.  They called it “horn silver”.
        One of the few remaining buildings there is an old Wells-Fargo station, now used by an artist who does powerful bronzes.  One, I recall, is of a huge bear standing on its hind legs to attack a man on horseback.  Another is of two life-sized eagles in combat, the only place they touch are the very tips of one wing on each bird.

        Now, Hildy and Dan are planning a vacation in that area.  I’m so glad.  That part of the southwest contains some of the most colorful and intriguing rock formations in the world.  Not far from St. George is the place where Butch Cassidy and  The Sundance Kid carried on their shenanigans.  It also was home to the Anasazi, Hopi, Comanche and others of the powerful southwest Indian tribes.

        Heather sent these pictures of Skyler and ‘Tasia in their Halloween costumes.

Thought for the day:  “By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too tired to go anywhere.”  -Billy Crystal-

That’s all for this time.
Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

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