September 2, 1946

Sept 2, 1946

664 W 13th

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear Father, Mother, and the rest of the folks at home,

Well, this is the end of a three-day weekend. It is very quiet and peaceful tonite. This afternoon I almost thought it was going to rain. It was cloudy and a wind sprang up and I was almost sure we were in for an unseasonal rain, but it blew over. After that it cleared up and this evening there were only a few clouds in the western sky when the sun went down.

I haven’t done too much, even if I had plenty of time to do something. I drew some cartoons, practice on the piano and read quite a bit. Saturday I took care of the usual errands; I went down to the bookstore and one of the books I had ordered had come in — “Adventures in Ideas” by A.N. Whitehead. I’ve read the first chapter and it bids fair to be interesting reading. I also went to the library and took our a couple of books — one a popularized book on light and a sort of travelog about a naturalist specimen-hunting trip. this last had been recommended to me by a guy out at work. It is about a Dr. Ditmars, curator of mammals & reptiles at the N.Y. Zoo, who is an authority on reptiles. It was easy reading and I finished it. I noticed in the paper the other day that contract bids are being asked for the demolition of the old library building here & that funds had been allocated for a new one, but it couldn’t be built for awhile yet.

Sunday I went to church as usual, but it was a very poor crowd. I suppose a lot of people were taking a last vacation trip before fall sets in. In the afternoon I did as I mentioned before, practiced and read.

This afternoon I went to a show, probably because I was getting tired of trying to amuse myself than for any other reason. It was fairly good — it was a comedy, altho not hilariously funny. For supper I went to a restaurant I don’t usually go to, but this evening most of the usual places were closed; and I sort of got a poor meal I thought. I wish the Thrifty Drug Store would open up its fountain again. There really aren’t any good places to eat in San Pedro any more.

Well tomorrow, the work week starts again. It has been nice to have this little vacation of three days but I’m sort of glad that tomorrow there will be something different again. Y’know, it’s funny. Sometime you feel like working and other times you just want to sit still and think instead. Sometimes you’re all excited about amounting to something and then in a more lucid moment you would rather work at enjoying yourself. I guess I’ll go read my new book. I sort of feel in the mood for it now.

With love

C.P.