Wednesday[1]
Dear Robert,[2]
Your
decision meets with my heartiest approval if you should happen to want a little
corroboration. In the first place I don’t see where you can lose anything by
it, and in the second place – I think psychologists would call it identification
– anyway it’s the thing I’d want to do if I were in your place – get into foreign
service somehow or other. If you pass the November examinations and they should
want you right away, the army would probably let you go, wouldn’t it? There
seems to be enough play mixed in with it, too, to keep life from being too
dull. Yesterday’s paper had a notice of the death of Squire Coops who seems to
have attained fame conducting the Ninth Symphony. Was he responsible for it the
time you heard it?
The other day I brought a book home from the library and it
starts out “Over around Foggia
the Italian land is level.” I haven’t delved very deeply into it yet, but the
descriptions seem to coincide with yours, and the story makes a good start.
It’s “Tomorrow will sing” by Elliott Arnold, a 1945 Book, in case you have a
nostalgia for the old camp ground.
Sunday the doctor and two pals started off on their two
weeks hunting trip, as eager and giggly as schoolboys. The season doesn’t open
until the 16th but they're going to go Daniel Boone and catch fish and antelope
or something, but to assure themselves of keeping up their weight they also
took a side of bacon and half a ham. Doctor even told me if I had time to see
if I could get a locker[3]
for the venison. I think I may do it, not for the venison, because I’m a bit
skeptic on the score but to put some of our chickens and turkeys when they
reach maturity. Since all the local yokels are now out earning themselves many
dollars in the fruit I feed the livestock myself, and it takes a bit of doing
to get the cat, the turkeys, and the two growths of chickens fed before I get
into town at eight o’clock.
I was sorry not to see you when you were home but no doubt
you had a fine time in the mountains and I had a wonderful time finding out how
bridge should be played. Comparatively speaking, if the ranking players there
are college class, I’ve just learned my letters in the first grade, and my card
club friends and most of my kith and kin haven’t even gotten there. It’s a
science. As a sideline however, they play rubber bridge for anything from 1 to
10 cents a point, and that my friend is money.
Tomorrow is John’s Birthday, so I’m having that little
family and mamma come out to help me eat a chicken. I’m going to give John his
present in the form of money which he can spend in a personally conducted tour
of Clovis ’ ten
cent emporium. Mamma has your letter so I’ll have to wait with mailing this
until she gets out here with the address.
Have
a good time, and good luck to you.
Cornelia[5]
[1] Postmarked
13 Sep, but Wednesday was the 12th. Letterhead is preprinted “Fresno
State College, Fresno California
[2] Lt. R.
B. Richert, 02071698, Squad H SAAAB, Santa
Ana , Calif.
[3] This
refers to renting space in a commercial freezer, often located next to a meat
market. Even after home refrigerators became common, people still would rent a
meat locker for large amounts of frozen product. I remember going to one in the
1970’s with my dad, located near what is now 41 and Fresno . I do not know if this was the
facility mentioned in the letter, but it would have been close to the house on T Street .
[4] It was
101 on Sept, 13, 2012, so we still get hot.
[5]
Handwritten signature. Return address: Mrs. W.E. Downing, Route 1 Box 52A,
Clovis California . A label over what appears to be
a “Fresno State College” return address printed on envelope.
No comments:
Post a Comment