Mukilteo Musings

Quiet 4th of July

Actually, it was not quiet. Supposedly, fireworks are illegal in Mukilteo but plenty of them were being shot off on our street. It is so easy to hide on dead end streets and behind huge trees and shrubs that the Mukilteo police do not have a chance. My son went over to an unincorporated part of our county where fireworks are legal with some high school friends of his and had the best time. I made sure he had all of his fingers and toes the next morning. Dave was exhausted from hauling bark so we just relaxed at home and watched explosions across the water and tried to keep the TV on loud enough so that Apolo did not freak out too much. He still did--poor thing.
I am still getting used to the new computer. We have had turmoil. Why is all of this so hard? We are educated people. We have not been able to download Google Earth for some reason so we will have one of Lucas' college friends who graduated in computer science come and help us with some of the loose ends. It shouldn't be this hard. Remember when you would get a new transister radio? You just turned it on and all of your favorite stations were right there.

In honor of the days before our rampant computer technology, I am posting a couple of beautiful old family photographs. True, they had no digital in those days so who knows how long they had to wait for these portraits to be ready. But, they are gorgeous.


My mother Virginia as a child (age 7) with her parents, my grandparents, Lillian and Dale. 1935.

This was a Christmas family portrait taken in Missoula, Montana. I love how my Mom has on such a gorgeous dress. And she has a necklace?! I had never seen this photo before until just a couple of months ago when my Mom gave it to me.


My father, David, is the baby with his two older brothers, my uncles, George and Alfred and his parents, my English grandparents, Lily and Samuel. Probably 1924 or 1925 in Deer Lodge, MT.

Actually, I remember discussing this photo of my father's family with my Grandmother. If you notice, my father has a sock monkey. I just love the fact he had a sock monkey. Anyway, he was having a major tantrum, I guess, during the photo session and if you look closely at the actual photo, you can see tears on his cute little cheeks.

The oldest boy is my Uncle George. At the moment, he is still alive at age 90. I say "at the moment" because he has some significant health issues going on. Until a few months ago, he had been in relatively good physical and mental health still living in his home with my aunt. My Dad and his brother Alfred have both died. My Dad and his brother both smoked. My uncle George did not.