Farmily News Extra! Extra!

    Well, I know somebody out there reads Dixie Press! It no sooner hit the web than Alice (Bunny) Pfister answered my plea for input and sent me the following:

    "We, too have some very special dates in September - Gordon, Mark and Tammy and her husband Jeff all have birthdays and on October 1 Gordon and I will celebrate our big 50th wedding anniversary - can you believe it?"

So...

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO GORDON,
MARK, TAMMY, AND JEFF

And

A WONDERFUL, SUPER-STUPENDOUS
HAPPY FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
TO GORDON AND ALICE

Hildy, Gordon, Bunny and Dave at a previous Christmas get together

I hope this will inspire more of you to send me newsies..

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

    September has only two SPECIAL DATES for us, as far as I can remember. Ryan has a birthday and Paul and Liz an anniversary.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PAUL AND ELIZABETH

    I hope any of you whom I have overlooked will set me straight. If you have, or know of someone who has a special date, I would love to add it to my list of important days to remember. You are all my big family and I don't want to miss anyone.

    I need to correct something from my last column. Russ and Jana are not in Gunnison, but in Carbondale, Colorado. Jana has a part time job in a Montessori-type school, teaching Outdoor Education. They have found a place to live that fits their needs exactly. There is an acre of ground, so the dogs are happy, and their living space has an attached work room perfect for Russ to build his long boards. It is close enough to Jana's school so she can walk or ride her bike. Now we hear Russ will be delivering a rural mail route. Jana has added driving the school bus to her activities. . . Russ sounded very happy when he called to tell us about all this.
     He sent us some pictures of his beautiful boards which he custom builds under the brand name "Tribal Hill"

     Another picture shows a lovely, purple mountain which seems to rise right out of their back yard.

    Ryan is back at Washington State University. He feels at home there and says he has a much nicer room this year. much larger than the cramped quarters of last year. He says this year his visitors won't have to sleep under his bed! That sounds like a definite improvement.

    We have spent most of the past few days glued to the TV watching the drama of Katrina play out in our Southeastern states. New Orleans is a shambles and nothing is left of the beautiful old mansions we saw along the Gulf coast when we drove along that route to see Dave at boot camp in Pensacola in 1969. The pictures are heartbreaking, but like putting your tongue on an aching tooth, we can't leave them alone. There is so much horror, but, also, so much bravery. The hardest thing to watch is the loss of hope so many are suffering.

    Gordon and Alice have cancelled their PIT adventure near Lake Tahoe as Gordon is very dedicated to his volunteer work with the Red Cross, so chose to spend the upcoming time doing what he can to help alleviate the suffering left by Katrina. He is on call to do anything they ask him to do, be it local or on the site of the disaster.

    John and Nan, inspired by Gordon's long association with Red Cross, have signed up to volunteer at the local chapter to help in any way they can be of use. So far, they have helped man the phones, which are busy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now, our news is full of that storm's successor, Rita, about to make landfall in the next few days. It's projected target seems to be Louisiana or Texas (or both). It has just made a mess of Key West as it passed over that tip of the Florida Keys.

    WE had a WONDERFUL time at the neighborhood barbecue. I got ready to go and was just going to tell Vern I was leaving, when he came out of his room all dressed, shaved, and ready to go with me! To say I was surprised was putting it mildly. He has been reluctant to go anywhere, lately. We wheelied down the alley with that salad perched on the seat and sweaters in the baskets. Our host, Peter met us as the side gate and helped us into the patio and from then on it was sheer pleasure. A couple of strong young men helped Vern into a chair on the "deck" and we sat at a big round table. Clydean and Joyce, who live where Powells used to live, joined us along with Bill, who used to live in the brown duplex that faces Woodlawn.... He was a neighbor for many years and we know him well. He walked by our place several times a day. He used to have a black and white cat that always walked a few paces behind him. When that kitty died, Bill started taking care of any strays that came his way. Now, he lives in a place close to Wallingford, but still comes over here to put food out for the strays that have come to count on him.
     Our sauerkraut salad went over very well. Someone had brought a good macaroni salad, and Peter had bockwurst and hot dogs with all the trimmings..... lots of chips and "extras". Krystyna made a yummy dessert... a mix of apricots, whipped cream and crushed nuts, rolled into a sponge cake, pinwheel style. There was an apple and cranberry crisp, some way too rich (but delicious) brownies, lemonade, pop, and beer.
     When we were so full we could hardly move, we were invited inside where one of our neighbors named Pierre played Peter's piano. He plays professionally somewhere local, and it was exciting to listen. Among others, he played Summertime from Porgy and Bess, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, some boogie-woogie... and then another of the guests, a darling black girl who was one of Peter's students at Cleveland High School a few years ago, sat on the bench with him and they "jammed" a duet you wouldn't believe! It was amazing! That house was rocking!! We were down there for three hours. When we came home, Art and Andy (he's just home from college for a few more days) walked us home and saw that we made it in okay

    Nancy is putting back the fence that decided to fall down. It is wonderful to have our own troubleshooter in the family. Vern says, "Thank goodness for jury duty!" as he discovered her while using his lunch break during jury duty and introduced her to John. You can read the whole story by clicking on "Dorothea's Writings" and selecting "Love Story".. in the column to the left.
     We have watched the fence come apart before our eyes. It will be nice to have it back. I like fences. They define spaces and make good backgrounds for plantings. Ours also are walls on which to hang flowering plants and "creatures" like cement gnomes, etc. We have a pair of ceramic squirrels that have been part of our lives since we bought them for the mountain cabin in the 1960s. Now they grace our fence.

    Jack has found a part-time job with Top Foods in Woodinville, about 15 minutes from home. He likes the work and is learning about veggies and fruit, as well as how to deal with the public. His employers know he is going to Shoreline College and have tailored his hours with them to fit around his class time.

    We went to breakfast with Dave and Anne at the Blue Star.. a favorite place for omelets. They have jars of raspberry freezer jam on every table. Dave gets a very satisfied look as he munches on a fresh baked raspberry scone and a Southwestern omelet! Vern's favorite breakfast is their strawberry waffle..

    Mommy Heather and baby Skyler have just flown in from Maryland to spend a couple of weeks with Grampa Dan and Gramma Hildy. A note from Hildy, this morning, gloated over having their floor covered with toys. I noticed a sort of purring tone to her note.

    Fall has now arrived, as it does every year. I hope we have an Indian Summer, so we can be outside for many more weeks. Our summer has been way too hot for comfort for those of us who prefer a temperate climate.

    Thought for the day: Despite the cost of living, have you ever noticed how popular it remains?

Love to you all.
Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

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