Sunday, June 20, 1954

Sunday morning June 20

Paul Gabriel Straat 132

The Hague, Holland

Dear Father & Mother

Last night I found out that it can really thunder in Holland. Yesterday had been a warm, quite sultry day, & along in the afternoon it sprinkled a little, but the rain didn’t really start till in the night when it thundered more than I have heard for a long time. I woke up several times & heard it so it must have kept on for some time. This morning it is mostly cloudy but the sun keeps looking out occasionally so I have hopes it will clear up. I should like to go down to Rotterdam later in the day to look around a bit, perhaps take some pictures & be able to say I had been there.

Today so far I have breakfasted etc, written a letter to Jean, told Mrs. Swieringa with the aid of the dictionary & some sign language that I might not be here for lunch and am now writing to you. Yesterday was a good day for mail — two from Jean & one from you. I was glad to hear how good the crops & the farm looks, but was sorry to hear of Viv’s and Tiny’s disappointment.

Today of course is Verner’s important day and in a few days he will be in El Cerrito. Jean is now spending her nights at 411 Bonnie Dr; for 4 or 5 days after she got back she spent them at her folks. One of the floor furnaces was out of order and so required fixing and I guess for this & other reasons decided to stay awhile with her parents. She visited the doctor last seem and everything seems to [be] coming along well.

Yesterday morning I spent doing some errands and some shopping and in the afternoon going to the beach. I had been out there twice before but once it was cloudy & another time in the evening (& while it was rainy) so hadn’t seen it in its best light. Yesterday while I was there it was sunshiny for the most part but late in the afternoon it clouded up. By that time tho I was ready to leave so didn’t mind. I got some pictures of the beach, the resort hotels, of the fishing harbor and of the partially demolished fortifications the Germans built. Most of these have been removed I understand but some still remain. At the present time most of the fishing fleet is out but there were a few boats in, enough to get a few pictures. The number of people at the beach increased as the afternoon wore on, but the weather clouded up so I went home about 4:30; it started to sprinkle a little by then but held off mostly till in the evening. I spent the rest of the day reading Time, having supper & taking a leisurely hot shower & washing my hair.

Work comes along about as usual. I think we will be running again this coming week, making check runs now that the difficulties have (I hope) been ironed out. Most of the past week was spent in reviewing the air flow measurement & calibration and installing some new equipment on the column. When these runs are completed & satisfactory I can bring up the suggestion that I’ve really accomplished my mission & see what reaction I get.

This will be all for now.

With love

Carl