Bellevue neighbors' flamingo follies

Melinda and J DeBruler tease their Bellevue neighbor, Sue Allison-Campbell, about her passion for all things pink. Recently, they sent her an e-mail that has been going around with the subject line: "Bird Flu Hits Florida."

The e-mail was a photograph of a yard filled with pink plastic flamingos — all knocked over.

Allison-Campbell waited until J's recent birthday to retaliate. When the DeBrulers left for a few hours, she set up four huge inflatable pink flamingos in their driveway and carport.

She didn't fool the DeBrulers for an instant.

"The next morning the four flamingos had migrated to my front yard," she said.

Small world

Dean and Ruth Silverstone of Issaquah were savoring a late lunch at a French restaurant in Papeete, Tahiti.

Part of the enjoyment came from the remoteness of the location — as well as the tropical beauty. They were away from their computers, and their cellphones didn't work in the South Pacific.

Nonetheless, their waiter approached hesitantly to say he recognized Dean Silverstone.

Silverstone owns Golden Oldies, a record store in Seattle that often has foreign shoppers. But the waiter didn't look familiar.

Turns out that one night in 1975, the waiter had attended professional wrestling matches held in the now-demolished Honolulu Civic Auditorium. Silverstone had been the guest referee for the main event.

There was a good reason the Polynesian remembered him: Silverstone disqualified the waiter's favorite wrestler.

"I'm grateful he didn't poison my crème brûlée," Silverstone said.

Mothering role

Dwight Phillips of Woodinville coaches Martha's Moms, a women's rowing team. The bachelor will be having shoulder surgery in June. And he now understands the "moms" part of the team name.

Martha's Moms, many of them Eastsiders, set him up for his down time with a survival kit.

They held a pre-surgery party recently and brought an array of gifts including homemade lasagna, cookies, jams, wine, a handmade mug, several books and funny cards.

"I couldn't believe the magnitude of the gifts," Phillips said. "I feel mothered and well-loved. It took me three trips to get everything from my car into the house."

No wonder he needs shoulder surgery.

By the way, the team has been around for about 22 years.

The original moms were mothers of Lakeside High School rowers. They met one another dockside in the wee hours as they dropped off their kids for practice and decided to take up the sport. They persuaded their kids' coach, Martha Beattie, to teach them. Hence the name: Martha's Moms.

For the record, Phillips' Moms finished second in the women's over-50 division on Opening Day.

One last grin

Lee Maxwell of Bellevue saw this license plate outside Office Depot.

She called it good advice for anyone on the road today. It read: LQQKOWT.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com