Wednesday, April 29, 1953

April 29, 1953

931 Seaview Dr

El Cerrito, Calif.

Dear Brothers & Sisters —

It’s about 10 minutes to seven this Calif morning and inasmuch as I’ve had the round robin some 5 days now I guess I should get my contribution written & the letter sent on its way. Today is starting out partly clear but the forecast is for showers so perhaps we shall have some more rain to add to the downpour we had on Sunday. Sunday’s rain was just about the heaviest on record for this time of the year but I guess it was quite welcome to the farmers because of the dry weather in January & February (or was it Feb & March?). As a consequence of the rain things look quite green outside right now.

With the coming of daylight saving time I shall be spending a larger part of each evening outside working on the lawn & outside of the house. Last night it was close to eight before I came in and, even then, it was still light enough so that I could have stayed out a while longer. The evening was rather cool tho, so coming inside felt rather comfortable. I had spent the time digging some weeds out of the yard (dandelion fashion) and getting strip of ground along the edge of the lawn ready to put in a hedge. This latter project I had anticipated finishing this week, but if it showers today & tomorrow I won’t be able to get done. However, there’s always work to do upstairs so the time won’t be lost.

Work at Shell follows its more or less even tenor. The work I am doing is sort of winding up the project I’ve been working on for several years but other projects of a temporary nature keep intruding all the time so the pace of work accomplished isn’t too great.

Earlier in the month I went to hear the Augustana choir on their western tour. One of their concerts was given at the Berkeley high school auditorium which is conveniently accessible. I rather enjoyed it altho occasionally I thought it seems a little long. Probably my musically-uneducated ear didn’t realize all that was transpiring. The concert was fairly well attended but I noticed a fair number of vacant seats around so it wasn’t a full house by any means.

I have also seen recently a U of Calif production of Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt.” If any of you ever have a chance to see this I would certainly recommend it, since is so certainly unusual to say the least. The play lasts kind of long tho (from 7:30 to 11:30 for the presentation at the Univ) and the seats are kind of hard so I had wished for a pillow-a-la-Tiny fashion. Since seeing it I have meant to get the play & read it, & also a commentary since much of it I couldn’t fathom but haven’t done so yet. However, there is so much else on my reading list that perhaps I’ll never get to it.

All for now

With love

C.P.

Monday, November 4, 1946

Nov 4, 1946

664 W 13th

San Pedro, Calif

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

I didn’t get the usual Sunday letter written last night so I’ll get off a few lines before I leave for work this morning. It is clear and cold this morning — much like yesterday but it will probably warm up, also like yesterday. I heard on the radio last night that frost warnings for the L.A. area were going to be broadcast so it must have been expected to be cold anyway. Saturday was really a miserable day. It blew hard all day from inland bringing with it clouds of dust so that the sun scarcely shone at all. By evening it had quieted down some and cleared up.

Well, not much has happened since I wrote you last. Friday was a usual working day. In the evening I practiced for awhile but didn’t feel like doing much. Saturday I got up at the usual time, went down to church and practiced for awhile, went down town, had breakfast, got some clothes at the cleaners, went to the bank & performed various miscellaneous errands. In the afternoon I had a music lesson & in the evening my music teacher asked me up with some other pupils to hear some Beethoven records she had just got. Afterwards a discussion on world problems developed & I didn’t get home till about one o’clock.

As a consequence I was rather listless yesterday. I woke up about 7 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up & read till church-time. After breakfast & church I practiced till about 4:45 went home & listened to Fred Allen, had supper & went to bed. I sure felt like I needed it; I guess I can’t stand the pace like Marold can. In a vacant lot nearby the Boys’ Club of San Pedro was holding some kind of a moneymaking scheme with a couple of loudspeakers blaring out music & talking but it didn’t prevent me from going to sleep immediately.

This is all the new for now so I’ll stop.

With love

C.P.

September 19, 1946

Sept 19, 1946

664 W 13th

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father and Mother & the rest of the folks from home,

If it is ever going to rain in San Pedro during September tonite is the night when it should. Yesterday was the hottest day if the year & quite sultry. Today the wind has been blowing steadliy from the southeast all afternoon; and by evening has rolled up a thick overcast which ordinarily wouldn’t come in till after midnight. San Francisco & points north have been having rain & it seems to be moving down the coast. If it were any place else it would surely rain; perhaps even it will here.

Effective as of last Monday the P.E. revised its schedule to provide fewer trains & fewer cars on each train. The car I was on Monday morning was sadly overcrowded and I was “peeved” when I got to work. In fact I was peeved enough to dig up the individual I had noticed who commutes by car from San Pedro and so I am now riding to work with him. Tomorrow however he is having some work done on his car so I will again patronize the P.E.

I had a letter from Vivian today; she sounds as if she were getting acquainted with some people and that in general she likes it in Humboldt. I think a large part of her lonesome feeling was the contrast between her work there & in Lakota.

I called up my music teacher last nite and she thinks that she can arrange it so I can practice at the Norwegian Lutheran Church here in San Pedro, where she is organist. I sincerely hope so and I will know next Saturday. It would be a disappointment to have my interest stifled at the present time.

My work continues about as usual. Lately I have been doing some very interesting work in connection with the catalyst now being investigated here. There are so many interesting angles to work out that you can’t keep pace with your ideas. Every time you turn your head some new and fascinating fact (well, almost every time) springs into view. Sometimes I can’t help but compare my attitude towards experiments now and when I first went to work for Shell. It used to bother me when things didn’t work out the way I expected; now an unexpected end to an experiment is not a discouragement — it is rather an indication to new & different experiments each of which stimulates your imagination. I used to dislike it when a new variable entered the picture; now another variable is an intriguing new avenue of thought & action. What I can’t figure out sometimes is whether I am getting older or younger as my attitudes along this line develop.

My new book on psychology contains a section on psychoanalysis which I haven’t reached yet. Perhaps I shall try to analyze my thinking etc after I have read it.

With love

C.P.

June 27, 1946

June 27, 1946

664 W 13th

San Pedro, Calif

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

It is a nice, quite evening tonite. The day started off rather drearily but this afternoon it has been quite clear altho not too warm. Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday were quite warm days while I was working up at Dominguez, and it is always warmer up there than at Wilmington. Also, since I was preparing a pilot plant batch of catalyst I was using my muscles more (yes, I still have some), therefore I was perspiring more and feeling correspondingly warmer. I am afraid that I am slowly achieving a disinclination to exert myself physically even if I have to.

Well, a week from today Vivian should have set foot (or feet) on the warm, dusty soil of Calif. I suppose there are places where you couldn’t shake the dust from your shoes as for example in the Arctic Circle, but Calif certainly isn’t one of them. Shell Development no doubt has Thursday off but I haven’t heard about Friday; I doubt very much that we get it off. It will be a lot of fun to see her again. By the way, I think that is is beneath her dignity as a school marm to allow one of her pupils to court her. She will get tired of it & he’ll be hurt and nobody will be happy over the situation (or so it says in the book where all pessimistic predictions originate).

Last night Mrs. Eldridge asked me up for supper & afterward I helped her write another letter to the Treasury dept truing to get them [to] reissue the bonds they lost. In the first letter, one form was required, which was filled out and sent in. Now, three more, plus a statement, certified, about the bonds must be made. I wonder iv they will want some more filled out. I would really laugh if she and a treasury dept official got together. He would certainly be adept at mixing up people ans she is the most mix-up-able person there ever was (of course, she had a head start in that she never thought a coherent series of thoughts ever in her life). She probably could get even the treasury dept official mixed up if he didn’t watch out. I asked her about Vivian’s being there for a couple of days & she said it was o.k. only to let her know as soon as possible.

I didn’t get to my room till nine o’clock, so I decided to sleep this morning instead of going down to church and practicing, so I did so. I have located another piano teacher (a better on than Mrs. Searcy) so I think I will restart taking lessons in the near future. Perhaps I am foolish in doing so, but I’ll see how it works out.

I neglected to get a card this evening, so I will have to take this opportunity of wishing for you, mother, a very happy birthday, and many happy returns of the day. Be sure and go into the big celebrationa nd really enjoy yourself!

With love

C.P.

June 2, 1946

June 2, 1946

664 W 13th

San Pedro, Calif

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

Today and yesterday have been “Chamber of Commerce” Calif days — except of course that the days started out cloudy. This cleared up tho by about ten or so and the rest of each day was very clear. Like the radio announcer I heard say, “Summer has come to Calif for sure at last.” It will be nice if he is right.

Friday evening the party for the Nyquists was held — it was rather dull but fortunately didn’t last very long. It was after ten tho when I got back to my room tho. Saturday I got up about six and went down to church and played on the piano till about 8:30; then went downtown for breakfast. Usually on Saturdays & Sundays I breakfast at Thrifty’s but they had shut down the restaurant part of the store on Saturday for some reason so I had to go elsewhere. This means that I will have to look around for another good palce to eat in the future. After breakfast I bought some lunch provisions for the next week’s lunches, went to the bank, bought some shorts (I got 5 pairs of knit shorts; this really surprised me) and a couple of T-shirts. I went to the library for awhile and then had dinner about the middle of the afternoon. In the evening I went up to My. Neiburg’s, the church treasurer, and helped him run down a discrepancy between his books & the bank balance. I didn’t get to bed till after eleven.

This morning I got up and read till time to breakfast & after church I played on the piano till after 2. I came back to my room, changed clothes, went downtown, had dinner, took a walk and came back about 5. Since then I have read etc till now, when of course, I am writing this. It is cooling off now so perhaps I’ll take a little walk and mail this.

That just about summarizes my activities to date. By the way, when is Vivian coming? if she wants to stay a couple of days down in San Pedro, she can stay at Mrs. Eldridge’s; she offered me to do so in church this morning. It might be nice since it is quite a ways by P.E. between Pasadena & San Pedro. Anyway, she can think about it.

This is all for now.

With love

C.P.

April 7, 1946

April 7, 1946

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

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

I don’t have much to write about but I guess I’ll write a few lines — enough to make a pretense of a letter anyway. Today has been a fairly nice day, altho rather cool and cloudy this morning. At this it was considerably better than yesterday which was cold and threatening. It didn’t rain but came very near to it about six in the evening. I started to go downtown for some supper about that time but decided I’d rather go without supper than risk getting wet so I went to the corner grocery store and got some cookies and stuff and made my supper on those. I was sort of tired so took a bath and went to bed early.

Friday night, I went to a show called “Saratoga Trunk.” Sort of a messy picture, I thought altho it was supposed to be good, both according to reviews and comments of those who had seen it.

I didn’t feel sleepy when I got home so I laid in bed and read till about eleven. I had got a book called “Novels of Science” last Saturday, but had not got around to reading it, so I read most of it them. It was really quite interesting. I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t feel sleepy Friday night since I usually do as soon as it is nine o’clock or so. In addition I was tired when I left work, both physically and mentally; perhaps the nap I took on the P.E. served to revive me. Truly it is marvelous what the human body can become accustomed to — sleeping on the P.E. is surely one of them.

I have located another place to move to — at least I think so — when I have to move from here. I answered an ad in the paper, but the rooms were all taken. However the lady said she expected a vacancy or two by June or before which I could have. It looked like a nice place to stay and it certainly was kept clean so it should be o.k. It is also nearer downtown so I don’t (or won’t) have to depend on the buses so much. It is on 13th street but about 3 or 4 blocks closer to the waterfront than Mrs. Johnson’s. The lady took my name and address & said she’d let me know as soon as the vacancies developed.

Mrs. Eldridge & daughter went to a show this afternoon so I took advantage of the opportunity and played the piano for awhile. It is always more fun to play when no one is around. The latest piece I have tried which is very nice is from the opera “Le Cid” or something like than by Jules Massenet. Easy to play too, which is an indispensable characteristic of anything I like to play. It won’t be so nice when I move and don’t have a place to play occasionally. Perhaps I should try advertising for a place where I could before I plan to move to this other place.

I suppose Vincent is home now. Ask him what “C.Q.” stands for. I could never figure it out. Also ask him if he got the books I sent him for Christmas.

This is all for now.

With love

C.P.

March 24, 1946

March 24, 1946

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif.

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

I feel sort of lazy tonite but I guess I’ll write a few lines home before I go to bed. There is no reason to feel lazy but I feel that way nonetheless. Perhaps ambitionless would be a more correct term to use.

Today has been sort of cloudy. This morning on the way down to church I almost thought I had been foolish in not taking a raincoat along because it looked so much like rain. However, it cleared up to a sort of undecided halfway state later on and remained that way. Yesterday was clearer but sort of cool and not very nice either. Most of the day I felt sort of punk so I went to bed early.

Mrs. Eldridge and her daughter were gone over the weekend to Los Angeles to visit some relatives. They left Saturday morning and got back this afternoon. Gloria’s (that’s the daughter’s name) poison oak is almost gone now. What finally happened was that she got scabs all over her arms and ankles and the doctor scraped them off because they were beginning to be infected, and then the new skin healed quite rapidly. I guess it sort of hurt tho when he did it. She’ll have a hard time making up all the school she’s missed.

I was planning to go to church tonite despite my aversion for the pastor but I got to talking to Mrs. Eldridge and ended up by not going. Perhaps listening to her is preferable to listening to him, but not very much so I’m afraid. Sometimes I wonder how her husband stood it; perhaps he died in self-defense. I played on the piano for awhile afterward, but not with very much enthusiasm or satisfaction, then wrote this letter. I bought a piano piece yesterday when I was downtown in the afternoon. It was a popular piece — “Begin the Beguine” by Cole Porter. I am afraid that I picked out too hard an arrangement tho. It has too many triplet in the most awkward places in it. Otherwise it wouldn’t be too hard. Probably I should have got the other arrangement they had, but it probably wouldn’t sound as pretty.

This is sort of a punk letter but I’ll try to make up for it some other time.

With love

C.P.

December 8, 1945

Dec 8, 1945

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

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

Well, a week has passed since I returned to Calif and I can’t say that it has overwhelmed me with the desirability of living and working here. Sometimes it is work that makes it seem so depressing, sometimes it’s the weather, sometimes it’s the people, but always, or nearly always, it’s something. Depressing isn’t the right word — more it is enervating, deadening, dulling. Every time I get back here from a visit to the middle west it seems more colorless, the people seem more frenzied, dull, stupid, inane — the atmosphere more torpid, sluggish, the whole attitude toward life more out of focus.

I wrote a letter today to Glockler, department head of chemistry at Iowa asking him to keep me informed of any likely openings in the midwest for chemical engineers. I rather think I could pull a switch of jobs now without getting drafted. I also wrote to Arnold who is at the Univ of Calif at Berkeley asking him what he thought of the idea of going back to school If I don’t get the transfer to Wood River and no likely position shows up in or near Iowa, I think I shall plan definitely on returning to school next fall. The application for a research or teaching fellowship must be in my Feb 15 or March 1, so I would have to decide by that time anyway. Iowa State College seems like the best bet, but I shall pick out a couple of other prospects from the schools I wrote to last fall.

This morning I went to church as usual. As I had written before I wasn’t too favorably impressed with the new pastor, and the impression was strengthened this morning. He is pallid in every sense of the word. He looks anemic. His address is effeminate. He never looks you in the eye while preaching (altho the ceiling is minutely examined as well as the floor) and he must have almost flunked homiletics or whatever the science of preaching is called. His sermon this morning was a masterpiece of illogic and of vague, general statements. If I didn’t feel sorry for him in such a tough situation as San Pedro represents, I would be thoroly disgusted. What is the Augustana Seminary for anyway? Either their admission committee doesn’t function properly or they don’t teach their pupils much after they are admitted. How can you expect a church to progress when the caliber of the men admitted to the ministry is so low? Maybe I am wrong but I am afraid that the death knell for the San Pedro church was rung when he came.

Yesterday I did my Christmas shopping and got the packages wrapped to send off which I shall do tomorrow on the way home from work. I am sending Clarice’s, Verner’s and Ann Marie’s presents in the package home since I don’t have Verner’s address or Clarice’s Aurora address, so could you send them on to them? All except 3 of the stores are functioning again in San Pedro. Penney’s looks like it intends to reopen but one of the ten cent stores has moved out most of its stock so it may be closing. Therefore it wasn’t too hard to do the Christmas shopping, all of which I did in San Pedro.

This afternoon I went down to the Vesper music hour at the YMCA. It was pretty good but nothing to yell about. The best number on the program was a couple of songs by a soldier. He was tall, skinny, shy, bashful but he surely could sing.

This is all for now.

With love

C.P.

March 24, 1945

March 24, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

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

I have finished taking a bath and feel in a nice, lazy, loafy mood, but I really should get this letter finished first. Then I shall read for awhile, listen to the news and go to bed. I think I sleep too much, but it is such an easy habit to form & adhere to.

Today has been a rather nice Calif day altho a trifle windy. Yesterday was really windy. Wednesday and Thursday were rainy days and the wind following them cleared the skies. Perhaps we are in for a clear spell now, following these unseasonal rains.

Last night I went over to Long Beach to hear Jose Iturbi, the pianist, who was giving a concern or recital, whatever you wish to call it, at the Long Beach municipal auditorium. It was scheduled to start at 8:15, but didn’t get underway till 8:30 or so. It was really wonderful I thought. He played about ten pieces, including three encore numbers. The one I liked best was a Sonata in A Minor or something like that by Beethoven, altho all of them were good I thought. Perhaps I was just too uneducated to detect his faults. I think that Vivian would have liked to have heard him. I am going to have to keep my eyes open so that when other people like him are performing in the vicinity of San Pedro, that I shall go to hear them.

My car is running along so so. I was going to get my driver’s license Thursday, but I had left the windshield wiper on (it is run by a small electric motor) and the battery was down so I had to have a garage man come up and get it and charge the battery. I was down this morning and got it and drove it to work. It is my opinion that the guys there didn’t know much what they were doing. They said they tried to charge the battery all night but it wouldn’t charge but after I drove it to work it had charged enough to start the engine easily tonite. Also they did a sloppy job of inspecting the wiring as I had asked them to do. They must not be keen about their work.

My work continues as usual. I am off on a new tack now for awhile. It seems as tho something new is always coming up that has to be given the once over to see if it will work and I am as often as not given that particular work to do.

It was nice that Vincent could get home for awhile. Marold & Verner much be growing enormous if he looks small beside them. I will be almost afraid to come home next vacation to see them.

Thank you for the interesting letters from home. I am glad that Vivian approves of the name “Cupcake” for Ann Marie.

With love

C.P.