Time marches on, and I am still, more or less, in step, thank goodness. Each day becomes a special gift at my age, and I am grateful.

    July birthdays include three grandchildren and a very dear friend, Carolyn Sheldon, who is Nan’s “Mam” (Welsh version of Mom).

    The “kids” are Jack Lightfoot, on the 13th, and Heather Lightfoot Withrow and Russell Nordstrand.  The last two share the 31st.

Jack, 1982

Heather, 1978

Russ, 1981

    One Wednesday, John had planned a very special treat for me.  He had entered GPS locations on a map of Seattle on his laptop and we visited, one by one, several addresses of interest to our family history.  First was where Uncle John Gierhofer lived when he was motorman for the Seattle Electric Company in 1910.  It was just off Rainier Avenue, south of Seward Park and overlooking Lake Washington.  There is a house at the address that is obviously newer than 1910, but it was a treat to look out over the view and know that what we were seeing of the lake was what Uncle John saw.
    Then, following the route presented by the GPS, we found several more places where one or more Gierhofers had lived over the years.  Besides the house on NE 69th that was their last home, there is another one in the area near Ravenna that looks like it might have been there long ago when they were at that address. Sometime, we should check out the history of that house….

    On the 4th, Hildy and Dan brought me to their house for an all-American dinner.  Potato salad, hot dogs, raw veggies and dip, a fresh fruit salad..and the loftiest home-made apple pie I’ve ever had a joy of eating.  We smelled it baking most of the afternoon and were very ready when Hildy cut into it.  When a scoop of vanilla ice cream was added, it was perfect…Yum. Too hot for eating  outdoors, but we were able to take a little stroll around just at dusk, to enjoy their beautiful yard.
    Dan drove me home in time for me to watch the spectacular fireworks from Gasworks Park.  My big TV seemed to put me there,  on the hill above Lake Union, with the hundreds of folks crowded together to watch the display.  The show just gets better and better every year!

    Dave called me Friday morning with an invitation to go to Woodland Park.  It wasn’t until I went out the door that I realized it was going to be much too warm for me.  We went to plan B….and had Swedish pancakes with lingonberries at International House of Pancakes, instead.  We sat and talked about fun things our family had done.

    The weather guy just promised our ridiculously high temperatures (high 80s) will drop dramatically over night… I hope so.  The heat has left me short of breath and weak in the knees.

    Northwest Prime Time, a local newspaper for the “over 50s” folks has published two of my stories in their current issue. “Fuss on a Bus”, which I included  in this column in the January, 2009 issue, and “Trampoline Tommy”, a story I sent to them at least a year ago. They surprise me every once in awhile by publishing something I had forgotten I sent.

                                *          *          *          *

From Dave (He rows a “one-man shell”).

Just back from about a 7 mile row (about 2 times around the Green Lake track, but it is really hard to row there).

Dave, far right, in quad shell

Tomorrow we shepherd about 20 bikers around the tulip fields for about 42 miles...starting and ending at Bayview State Park.

Dave

             *          *          *          *          *

July 20 

    40 years ago, today, Hildy, Paul, Vern and I were in Washington, D. C., in Senator "Scoop" Jackson's office and watched on their TV the Cape Canaveral shoot for the moon that landed the first  astronaught.  We had gone to his office to pick up the tickets I had asked their office to get for us for tours of the White House and the Capitol Building and we got there just in time to be invited to watch with his office staff.  Senator Jackson was at the Cape to observe the lift-off.  
    The following weekend, we were at a motel near Pensacola, where Dave was in boot camp for the Navy Air Corps, and Dave was able to join us to watch the moon landing.
    I wonder if Hildy and Paul remember that historic  time as fondly as I do??

From: Dorothea to John  Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009
Subject: Remember?

    I can't believe it has been 40 years since Hildy, Paul, your Dad, and I watched the Moon shoot on TV from Senator Jackson’s office in D. C.
    John, you were traipsing around Europe that summer.  Do you recall where you were on that day?

(response from John)

Yes, I was staying at the home of the fellow that Penny knew who lived in Stockholm. I was sitting in front of his TV and listening past the Swedish speaking announcer to the English feeds that Swedish TV was getting from the US and NASA. It was an amazing day.

John

(from Hildy)

          It's funny, I barely remember seeing the takeoff, but vividly remember the moon landing.

Hildy

                               *          *          *          *

(From Nan’s uncle Bob, age 88)

                                     GREAT ADVICE.

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance. 

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain Dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

* Don't pick a fight with an old man.  If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

        And finally, my new favorite....

* "Jist cuz you stepped in it, don't mean ya hav'ta stand in it!"

             *          *          *          *          *

    Dave took me on that promised trip to Woodland Park and it was wonderful.  I hadn’t been there in many years and the habitat for the animals was so changed.  When I was a child, all of the creatures were in huge cages.  During the time we took our kids, many of them had been moved to more natural surroundings, and now almost everything lives where there is room to move around in the outdoors.
    He pushed me around about a third of the park in that comfortable wheelchair.  We visited the brand-new penguin village, where your view from behind a tall glass window between some “stone” pillars gives you both an above the water and below the water view.  Penguins are amazing swimmers, looking more like fish than birds when they dart around below the surface.
    We visited the area where the gorillas roam over a wide, green woodsy place, and saw a huge male sitting comfortably on the ground, munching some fresh fruit.  Nearby, was a female with a “toddler”.
    We covered about a third of the park and we plan to go back soon.

    Dave just called me with an interesting item about his cat, Pi’ilani.  They had some extra tuna and dill pickle sandwich filling which they put down for the cat, thinking she might eat the tuna. She surprised them by eating the dill pickles and leaving the tuna. 
    Well, she’s a true cat. Our Tiger had some odd tastes.  I couldn’t leave tomatoes or cantaloupe where he could get at them. Kitty Hooch liked his morning bowl of oatmeal with milk and sugar.  Willie liked Pablum and other baby foods. Willie also liked to sleep on top of our plastic awning when it was raining…..It was a kick to look up at the translucent awning and see the big, blob of him sprawled out with the rain pouring down and around him, and he slept peacefully on.

Willie

    Nan’s relatives, John and Kay Evans, have a home high above the beach at Indianola, on the Olympic Peninsula. One beautiful, recent Saturday, during the weekend known there as “Indianola Days”, John, Nan, and I were invited there for salmon barbecue and a pot luck… Oh, my!
    Their beach house has had a recent makeover, adding a second floor of large, airy rooms.  Two small, half-moon shaped balconies grace the upstairs front, giving anyone there a truly magnificent view over the beach below the bluff, as well as miles of Puget Sound… Edmonds and Magnolia Bluff on the mainland ‘way off to the left, Bainbridge Island straight ahead, Suquamish in near view to the right.  From there we could see the hundreds of people below on the beach, busily crafting sand sculptures in the annual contest that Nan, John, Debbie, and Josie won last summer with their sculpture of J. P. Patches.  Kay had the blue ribbon they won waiting for them when we arrived.

J.P. Patches sand sculpture, 2008

    The porch of the main floor has the same view as the balconies, but without the near, under-the-bluff beach.
    All through the house are pieces of art and crafts they have picked up on trips they have taken.  It is a charming place.

Some of the Evans Family enjoying the deck

Crowd on the beach



My magnificent viewpoint

(Excerpt from a note from Kirby who is visiting in Colima, Mexico)

The heat here is unbelievable. I'm trying to work while here (when I'm not writing e-mails like this one) but after about 9:30 a.m. my brain cells start melting.  On Monday I finally opened the freezer and stuck my face inside - and it helped.

The light is also bright, although we've got a haze that keeps me from seeing the volcano (yay!).  It makes me long, again, for SOMEONE to work on the technology for a laptop/notebook screen that can be seen while sitting in a bright place although under the shade.

Like right now.  I'm at the park, one of the three in the center of town, in a funky kind of booth they've built here.  They have wi-fi ("Internet Inalambrico") connections provided by the government.  I'm sending a picture of the booths, and they appear odd things until you use them.  The roofs, that I thought excessive when I first saw this, actually provide much needed protection from falling tree litter (seed pods, leaves, bird droppings, etc.)  The seats are just comfortable enough, and the tables will, shortly, give out because nothing lasts in this climate.

However, the chance to use my laptop with the internet for free (rather than a mercenary computer at a 'ciber cafe') is a real luxury.

             *          *          *          *          *

Ken & Kat Nordstrand on their new swing

The swing Vern made for us

Hi Dorothea,

That  looks like a great swing. It looks like the one my dad built for the family, I think in the late 40's. It lasted for years with repairs being done regularly, because we treated it pretty rough. I can just hear him hollering (Hey, you kids are svinging too damn high). My sisters, brothers and all our friends were regular participants of that swing. The one I built is an Adirondack lawn swing. I always wanted to build one because of the fun and nostalgia of the old one. I bought the plans in 1992, but i never got around to building it. Also my health prevented me from doing so. One day i was digging around in the shop and ran across the plans (I had spotted them several times through the years) and decided to give it a shot. But i found out being on oxygen and building it wasn't gonna be easy. But I persevered, what with Kat helping hand me things when I was on the ladder and also her help (and a neighbors) in painting it, I made it. I guess it was fun but I don't think I would ever do it again. We sit in it now and then, but it's not the same as when we were kids. Ha Ha. Also it's been raining almost every day so I put plastic sheeting on top so we can sit in it when it's raining slightly. I'm gonna save your swing photo to an album. I told Kat, it's a wonderful photo. Hope everyone is doing good. 

Love, Ken

note from Heather after her birthday

Hi Gma-

Thanks for the Birthday card and check. :)   I had a nice birthday.  I  hosted a BBQ gathering at my home with some friends and their kids.   It was fun to watch the kids play in the water (inflatable pool and  slip and slide).
16 days until the kids and I fly out to Washington!

Hugs,
H

    Heather and the children are making a two week stopover here and then they and Misty Flowers (Heather’s friend since they were both small children) are off to Taipei, where Thomas will be the head coach of track and field sports for the 2009 Deaflympics.

Quote for today:

          “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
                                                      -Berthold Auerbach

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

Home Page: Dixie-Press.com

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