Saturday, November 22, 1958

November 22, 1958

411 Bonnie Dr

El Cerrito, Calif.

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Since I wrote last in the round robin we have driven to Iowa, using the three weeks of vacation I still had left, and we have been back now over two months. This was our first experience in driving such a long distance and I can’t say I would want to do it again soon, but might at some later time. On the way to Iowa we stopped for several days to Rocky Mountain Park and returning we came via Joplin and stopped at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison & the Colorado National Monument. We have just recently got our last batch of slides from the trip finished and they turned out quite good. One we lost tho since it was the first one on the roll and I hadn’t rolled the film far enough before taking the picture. On the way back we stopped one hot afternoon at a cafe in western Kansas and by chance happened to try their apple dumplings. They were so good that Jean has copied them & this is now one of our favorite desserts.

This fall has been a warm one in Calif, except for a short cold snap a week ago and severa flowers have started growing as tho it were spring. Among these are the roses and we have had as pretty roses as we have had at any time just recently. Because of the nice weather I have the yard in pretty good shape in anticipating of the winter. There will be the usual pruning jobs to do in the winter but except for those there will only be such tasks as mowing the lawn every other week, some minor trimming etc. My next major project is the replacement of the backyard fence but I’m not sure when this will get started.

Muriel and Palma continue to grow and change rapidly as is usual for children of this age. Muriel is in the kindergarten class at Sunday School now and every once in awhile pops up with something she has learned there; she’ll be eager to start school next fall I’m sure. Lately her coloring skill has improved a lot and she does fairly well by the hula-hoop (she’s only had it 3 or 4 days now) but nothing like Billy I’m sure. Palma seems to be passing thru a less desirable stage right now, being somewhat fussy much of the time, not wanting to eat as she should and being prone to falls etc. I guess she’ll grow out of it though.

My work at Shell continues much as usual and last August I passed by 16th anniversary with them. Not too many years and I’ll have lived longer in Calif than in Iowa. My luck at avoiding business trips held up for more than a year but it looks like I’ll need to make one in Dec (maybe the airline will be on strike though and this would cancel it).

For the next year or so I plan to try to develop my cartooning into a salable product. I haven’t had any puck so far but haven’t kept at it too conscientiously tho so that may be the reason.

All for now.

With love,

Carl, Jean, Muriel & Palma

Saturday, April 14, 1956

April 14, 1956

411 Bonnie Dr

El Cerrito, Calif.

Dear brothers & sisters,

April in Calif is usually not too rainy since by then the rainy season is definitely tapering off, but this week has not been typical and we have been having some real April showers. Today has been quite sultry-like but the rain held off till evening so I was able to spend part of the day out in the yard. My big current project in the yard is the terracing of the back yard into two levels, thus removing the slope from it and making it more useful; I spent several hours this afternoon & one this morning moving dirt round to this end, being assisted by Muriel who spent some of the time moving dirt from one can to one pile to another can to another pile etc. Probably there was as much sense to her activity as to mine.

The rain has made the yard look much fresher since we had had no rain for a month or so and things were quite dry (I watered thoroly last weekend, perhaps that is why it rained this week). We have had several roses and soon shall have many more judging from the buds on the bushes; the daffodils are gone, but we have a few tulips, a lot of coral bells and calla lilies, and quite a few flowers of a species I forget the name of (Jean also forgets). The berry bushes and strawberries are full of blossoms so we should have a good berry crop this year — last year we had quite a fer berries on the vines but very few strawberries.

Last weekend I started to paint in the rumpus room downstairs and got the primer coat on the walls. The walls had been dark brown so the room was quite dark most of the time and since we want to have the walls a light yellow I had to put on a coat to cover up the brown first. Perhaps this coming week in the evenings I can get started with the second coat. My other painting project for the summer is the stucco part of the house (I did the woodwork last year); however I probably shan’t get started on that till after our visit to Gowrie in May (we plant to come the week of Decoration Day so as to have an extra day for traveling).

One day at work I noticed in a trade journal a request for cartoons so I decided to draw some up & submit them. I thought the ones I sent in were pretty good but they didn’t accept any of them — at least they were better than some of those they chose & have been printing. However, since I’ve finally bestirred myself on this dream of mine, perhaps I shall continue drawing some and trying to sell them. Being a cartoonist would I think be an easier life than being an engineer I think, and perhaps more useful in the long run.

This spring I am taking part in the Great Books discussion course. The particular session I am going to is at the Albany high school (a city adjacent to E.C.) but the general idea is sponsored bu the Great Books foundation. The first year is concerned principally with political works. My roommate at work introduced me to the idea and I thought I’d give it a try. The first session was quite interesting and the one next time (on Monday evening) should be even more so. I hope it keeps that way & that my interest stays up.

All for now — I’m all writ out, having also penned the weekly letter home.

With love,

Carl, Jean & Muriel