A transcription of autobiographical material recorded in longhand
by my dad, Carl P. Strand (August 6, 1920 – January 8, 2006)
about growing up in rural Iowa during the Great Depression,
philosophical ruminations, and letters written over the decades to family members.
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.
In between bites of Jean’s
cinnamon-raisin bread I will start my contribution to the round
robin. The loaf from which my slice came was freshly baked today so
it is very tasty. It is almost nine o’clock and I’ve finished the
weekly letter to Gowrie and a note to Aunt Hulda so I’ll be about
ready to turn in when I get this letter finished.
Today I felt sort of sleepy and
lazy perhaps because of my unusual session in the yard over the
weekend, so I don’t think I’ll last awake much past 9:30 or so. A
week ago today the weather turned sunny after a long rainy spell &
since then it has been nice. So on Saturday I really did a lot in the
yard and I guess my out-of-shape muscles still feel it.
Altho there were quite a few
cases of houses sliding or “subsiding” as the newspapers put it
during the rainy weather, we fortunately escaped all of this. The
little drainage sump I put in, in the basement, when I was putting in
the concrete floor last fall, collected water faster than usual but
still required attention only a couple of times a day. From our
living room windows we can see a coupe of the slides that occurred on
Albany hill
a mile or so away. One of these slid into the back yard of a Shell
Development employee, altho I didn’t happen to know him. Down at
work during a particularly rainy spell the Temescal creek
plugged up at a brush guard and sent the creek flowing out into the
street so that Shell Dev was about ½ surrounded with water.
old-timers said it was the worst they had ever seen it. The creek
overflowed about noon and by five the waters had receded slightly but
it must have been late at night by the time the Emeryville street
dept got the creek unplugged. I couldn’t help but be reminded of
Vivian’s little blue house by the river and the times when it has
been flooded, or nearly so.
As usual our daily, weekly, &
monthly schedule is largely det’d by what stage Muriel & Palma
are in. Palma has a pretty good start on being trained and we hope
that she will be nearly so when we make our planned trips this year
to San Diego & Iowa. Tho still a blonde, she is a little
darker-haired now than when she was born. She is a great imitator and
picks up the things Muriel does even when she doesn’t know the
reason. Muriel is in the “why?” stage now and Palma also has
learned to say why (altho she doesn’t know why she is saying it).
I’ll be reading to her and come to the end of a Mother Goose rhyme
and she’ll say “why” like amen — not really asking about
anything but just making the proper (to her) response.
This will be all for now. Hope
you are all feeling well & fit.
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.
Coming home tonite from Jean’s
folks’ where we had had supper, I suggested to Jean that she could
use part of the evening writing the round robin contribution from
Calif. This suggestion did not meet with very much enthusiasm tho,
so, like Vincent, I am doing the honors. However I shouldn’t
complain since I get by with less letter writing nowadays than ever
before, & have on the other hand more to read.
A couple of weekends ago I was
sorting thru & arranging my collection of old letters & came
across one from Vivian while she was teaching in Lakota. This letter
related the opinion that Lakota high school students considered a)
the writer’s health and b) the weather to be indispensable topics
for a letter. So, to fulfill these requirements I shall inform you
that I am feeling fine (and sound of teeth as attested by a quite
recent verdict of the dentist), that Jean is fine and that Muriel is
growing & developing well. And secondly, that the weather in
these parts has been dry & sunshiny for two whole days but that
prior to these two days has been wet, gloomy, cloudy & rainy for
the better part of two months. In fact it has been so damp that the
chimney bricks have started to get moss growing on them.
Because of the rainy weather I
have been prevented from following one of my usual weekend
activities, namely working in the yard. Before Christmas I was able
to get the front yard mowed one day but since then was unable to mow
it again till yesterday because it was too wet. Consequently when I
got into it yesterday it was really quite a job getting it mowed.
Yesterday I also finished the rose pruning & noticed that the
tulips & daffodils I set out in the fall are coming up. Perhaps
they are early because the weather, tho wet, has been on the warmer
side. We plan to plant some trees along the sidewalk but have yet to
buy the trees & get them planted.
Probably the most important
factor in how the Strand household in E.C. is run is Muriel. Right
now she has just reached the point where the playpen as a useful tool
may be on the way out. Yesterday she climbed out, or more correctly,
climbed to a point from which she fell out. He fall scared her more
than it hurt her & she hasn’t repeated the escape, but I feat
it’s only a matter of time. She has started to open drawers instead
of closing them, can open & shut doors (except for hard-to-open
ones), has a vocabulary of perhaps 25 words (recognizable at least to
some degree to Jean & me), hates to have her hair washed but
likes a bath.
My work at Shell continues as
usual — a mixture of practical service problems & somewhat
impractical (at times) research work. Right now my big project at
home is the refinishing of the floors, with which I’ll have the
assistance of Jean’s brother-on-law. I’ll be glad when it’s
done. This will be all for now. I shall send the R.R. on its way
tomorrow a.m. on the way to work.
It’s about 8:30 this Sunday
evening and I’ll pen a few lines before it’s time to go to bed.
Jean says she is going to write a letter telling about the wedding,
reception & trip south so I’ll omit saying anything about them
except to note that everything seemed to come off in a very
satisfactory way and the honeymoon trip was quite enjoyable. The
weather was a little on the cloudy side but that’s to be expected
this time of the year.
This evening so far we have been
out and returned some dishes that were used in the reception and
visited the Knocks briefly. We left rather early though since
tomorrow is a back-to-work day and the end of the week after the
return from Santa Barbara was again somewhat strenuous getting things
somewhat in order in the house. Rev Knock said that he had written a
letter to you regarding events so you doubtless had heard some of
what transpired from him. They were at the reception so had the
chance to meet Jean’s folks.
In the mail which had
accumulated while we were gone was a notice from the railway express
agency of a package which I would guess was the one from U. Carl. The
office is closed on weekends so we will have to get it sometime
during the week; however it has arrived safely. We also had a letter
from Clarice and a gift waiting for us on our return.
As you gather we are now
established at 411 Bonnie Dr albeit disorganizedly yet. The only
thing to complete this purchase is for us to receive back the deed
from the county recorded which should occur shortly. This afternoon I
signed the papers selling the house in Seaview so that should be
complete this next week; it will be a relief to have these all
finally complete. Friday night was the first real story of the season
here (we were driving home in part of it) and I wondered if it could
have been enuf to blow sone shingles off at 931 Seaview. I looked
around tho and everything seemed o.k. so maybe it didn’t do any
damage. Shortly before I bought it quite a few got blown off in a
storm so I wondered if it would have happened again.
Jean has just reminded me (again)
that I didn’t get around to getting addresses for 3 wedding
invitations so in case Uncle Milton’s, Uncle Serenus’s or Under
Verner’s wonder why they didn’t receive any that was the reason.
They probably wouldn’t have been to interested anyway I’d guess.
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.
It’s about 7:00 pm on this
quiet evening in Calif and by now the last traces of the sunset are
gone altho with the rapidly lengthening days it won’t be long till
I can be out working in the yard till this late. The last month or so
here has been very nice sunshiny, dry weather for the most part —
largely compensating for Dec & the first half of January which
were quite dismal months. Today was a beautiful day altho not as warm
as some others. Because of the warm weather, fruit trees &
flowers are much earlier this year than normal. Several trees
(apricot, plum, etc out in the yard) are blossoming now and along the
city streets many ornamental cherry trees are flowering. The
narcissus flowers are gone by now & the irises are starting (I
have about 3 or 4 out). I don’t have any call lilies blooming (all
I got is plants from Mrs. Udden newly set out) but in other places
these too have many flowers right now. Mother has planted others
flowers in the yard too — snapdragons, pansies, marigolds, so the
yard should really be a riot of color when they all start in.
I have certainly enjoyed having
the folks out here — & as would be expected — they have
certainly done much to improve the place since they arrived. Inside
mother has got curtains up, waxed the living room floor &
succeeded in creating a real “homey” atmosphere. Outside, pop has
been cleaning off a big tangle of underbrush on the slope north of
the house & has almost got done. This summer I plan to terrace
this side to keep the slope under control.
My work at Shell continues in
more or less its normal course. As usual I am quite busy, right now
finishing up one experimental investigation by a “catchall” final
report covering numerous minor tests that were run. I should have
this completed in a month or so at which another program will be
inaugurated. I also have promised for me an interesting literature &
theoretical problem later on which will occupy much of my time after
the middle of the year.
I have been spending some time
working on the “attic” putting up figured building paper on the
walls, which looks like wallpaper if you don’t get too close. This
project is about ½ finished & when it is complete that part of
the house will be quite presentable. After I get the linoleum in
upstairs & the bedroom where the folks are sleeping painted or
papered, the inside will be just about finished — at least I think
so. Probably other things will turn up that need to be done.
Tonite I am rather tired having
attended an AIChE meeting last night. The talk was interesting &
was worthwhile but the meal was too large & I missed a train by
two minutes so that the evening was rather tiring. Guess I’ll hit
the sack early.
With love
C.P.
P.S. I’m really getting out of
practice in writing letters as long as the folks are here.
Today is a rather different day,
as I see by looking over my previous contributions to the round
robin, than the one on which I wrote last time. Today is partly
cloudy here in Calif, altho right now the sun is trying to break
thru. Later today and tomorrow it is scheduled to rain according to
the weatherman. This was also the forecast for last night but not
very much materialized. This morning it was rather nippy out, but by
now (9:30 am) it is probably warmed up to 45° or 50°F or so.
Because of the rain some two weeks ago, the wild oats on the hills is
starting to sprout so they are beginning to look green. However the
trees have lost their leaves & the lawns are rather static right
now, so the overall green hasn’t changed.
As you all doubtless know I am
eagerly awaiting the visit of mother & father, who will becoming
next Saturday. I guess they’ll be glad leaving all that snow and
cold for a warmer clime. I have finished the downstairs in
preparation for their coming, but a fair amount of work remains to be
done upstairs. I also have now all the necessary furniture to
accommodate them. Probably I have missed some things that will be
needed but mother will have better ideas on that subject than I.
Outside I haven’t done too much recently having concentrated on the
inside of the house. However, right now the lawn doesn’t grow too
fast & the weeds seem a little slow too. The daffodils along the
curb are starting to come up now; I was wondering if they would make
it since I had filled in dirt along there so they were considerably
deeper than before.
At work, things continue about as
usual. There is usually plenty to do — sometimes it seems like too
much. The latest rumor going the rounds is that Shell Development is
going to buy the Western Electric building across the street — what
for I don’t exactly know. It’s a great big concrete barn of a
place, 5 stories tall, but it would take a lot of changing over to
make it suitable. However, things are fairly crowded here, so perhaps
there is something to the rumor.
Thanksgiving I spent at the
Uddens — together with some of the Knock relation. They all think,
Marold, that you & Jeannie should be married out here because so
many of the relation, both sides, will be out here right then. Of
course, the principals won’t be, but that’s a small matter!
Yesterday I listened with
considerable joy as Notre Dame beat USC. Out here the football
scribes are freely predicting a win at last for the west in the Rose
Bowl (as they have 6 previous times). I hope this USC loss presages
their fate in the Rose Bowl, despite their vaunted might.
I should drop a line to the folks
so will stop for now.
I should be out in the kitchen
painting but it’s a rather warm evening and I haven’t too much
ambition so I’ve been dawdling around all evening. These 85°F days
that come ever once in awhile (like today) really take the starch out
of a person, particularly when you’re used to the 70°F kind. I
suppose that you, Verner, tho would think it a very mild sort of day.
Come to think of it, seems I’ve heard in various & sundry
letters that its been rather warm in the midwest at times too, so I
guess I should be talking.
Like Vivian, I’ve got one thing
that’s its very easy to write out since it occupies so much of my
time. With Viv its Ruth Laurine but with me its my house (My in a
certain be-mortgaged sense). So, for a time I’ll write about the
house. As I mentioned I should be in the kitchen painting or I shan’t
have things fixed up the way I would like by Christmas when I hope
the folks will come for a visit. The kitchen is going to be yellow
with black trim and I’ve painted enuf of it to know that I’m
going to like it. The trouble with me as a painter is that I don’t
get a nice sharp line between the yellow & the black — it sort
of wiggles around etc etc. Usually by going back with either color
alternately I can straighten it out fairly well but its no
professional job. Outside the house I have about 2/3 of the lawn in;
the rest will wait till next year. On the schedule before winter are
some shingle repairs both on the sides (which are cedar shingles) &
the roof (asbestos shingles). These shouldn’t take too much time so
perhaps I can accomplish a few other things too.
I have decided geraniums are my
favorite flower since they grow so easily. Along the road next the
curb I have been trying to get some ivy started but without too much
success. Last night I dug a slip up to see if [it] had taken root at
all & it didn’t look like it had. That particular one looked
pretty dead like most of the others, but a few still look like they
might make it. If they don’t begin to show progress I think I’ll
try to find something else nice & hardy like the geraniums.
My work continues to keep my
quite busy and indeed last Saturday I had to spend working on a rush
project. Needless to say I regarded this with a singular lack of
enthusiasm since I had a full day of work on the house planned. I’ve
moved to another office so I can no longer see the Calif Contained Co
activities; this is definitely a hindrance to spending a leisurely
contemplative day at work — the pilot plants that I can now
overlook aren’t nearly as interesting.
Right now I feel very virtuous
having penned my contribution to the R.R. [round robin] so soon after
I got it. I feel moved to go upstairs & sit in the bathtub &
cool off.
What a beautiful day it was today! How I wanted to be outside loafing
in the bright sunshine! How nice it was to walk around the block at
noon, even for a few brief moments, and breathe the warm balmy air!
What a beautiful Sunday was, and Saturday also! I certainly felt
sorry for all of you up to your knees in snow with the cold, cold
wind whistling past you and chilling the marrow in your bones. It is
true that some vagrant tag-ends of weather originally scheduled for
the middle west got shunted this way some weeks ago, but this is all
gone now, the weather lanes having finally gotten straightened out.
All this nice spring weather brings with it a restlessness tho which
makes one view work with a certain jaundiced eye. Saturday afternoon
having other things that could well have been done, I decided to go
instead for a ride in the country. It was very beautiful — the
hills were green, peaceful cows & sheep dotted the hillsides, all
nature seemed to be busting out with spring. The road I took was out
past Walnut Creek and around the other side of Mt. Diablo and then
back on the near side of the mountain. Today altho I felt restless
again, there wasn’t much that could be done about it; however I did
manage to spend some time inspecting a new layout in the column which
in order for a comprehensive inspection to be made necessitated
spending quite some time there. This excursion revitalized me however
so I was able to labor the rest of the afternoon.
Since I wrote my contribution to the round robin letter I have
finished the book case and bedside stand I was working on. I bought a
small radio for the latter with which to lay in bed on summer
evenings & listed to the ballgames. Also I decided that I would
make a small lamp for it, which is not well on its way toward
completion. These objects have been made with various tools I have
bought in the last several months; since they are taking up space in
my drawers I decided to manufacture a chest for them — this project
is also in an intermediate state.
I have in the interim purchased two books — one on how to build
houses out of concrete blocks which attracted my attention because I
figured that sometime I might be building a house & perchance
this info would be useful; also I bought a book called “Tales ofthe Uncanny & Supernatural”
by Blackwood
which Time mag recommended & which I am happy to say is well
worth the recommendation. I also washed my car a week ago &
polished it, some rain has since spotted it a little but I can still
see my reflection in it at 50 paces so you see it is still quite
bright & shiny.
The Gustafsons left for San Diego last week so now things are quite
quiet & peaceful, overhead. This will not last however since in
May the Wilsons’ missionary son is due from Japan; they have I
understand several children also with associated capacity for much
ado. This remains to be seen however.
Dear Father & Mother and the rest
of the folks at home,
This week has been sort of a cool &
blustery one so far. Most of the time in the mornings and the
evenings it has been cloudy, and not only with misty indecisive
clouds but with determined & voluminous ones. In addition the
wind from the sea has been quite strong & certainly nippy. At
midday the sun is usually out and it is nice and warm but it doesn’t
stay out after mid-afternoon except fitfully. This noon I went for a
little walk instead of kibitzing at the bridge game and it was nice
out then but this evening it is nice to be indoors, or so my mood is
anyway.
This morning the battleship Iowa was
anchored in the bay, having steamed in sometime in the previous 12
hours or so since it wasn’t there yesterday evening. A couple of
landing barges and some launches were headed toward it as the train
went over the bridge so I guess that a whole bunch of sailors were in
line for a leave. Altho it is supposed to be a very large ship, &
undoubtedly is, it didn’t seem too large as it lay anchored there.
However I suppose it was a good ¼ to ½ mile away so the distance
may have made it seem smaller. Also the fact that no objects were
nearby for comparison of relative sizes made an evaluation of the
true picture of its size difficult. This morning about ten-thirty
there was supposed to be a parade of some sort in S.F., in connection
I presume with its presence, along with several smaller ships, in pot
but it didn’t amount to very much. However people seem to have
taken advantage of the situation to toss paper out of the office
building windows, much like at New Year’s, since there was quite a
bit laying around on the streets & sidewalks.
Tuesday night as usual I went to the
fractionation class. This time he really went on a spree, deriving
equations for absorption towers etc., and I got tired after about 15
minutes of it, and wished I were home in bed. Wednesday night I had
supper with Frank before coming home. Mostly, life has proceeded
along in its usual routine. It is sort of funny sometimes — you get
so you recognize lots of people by sight, since they ride the same
train in the morning, or they are waiters or bus boys or something —
but you don’t know their names or what they think. It is fun tho to
speculate some times about them. Perhaps they do the same about you.
Thank you, father & mother, for
your recent letters and advice. However, I feel that perhaps I erred
in discussing the subject, particularly since you do not seem
amenable to my stand. So, let’s not discuss it any more, shall we?
Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the
folks at home,
I was very sorry to hear that your side
was troubling you so mother. Perhaps you should go to the doctor and
find out what’s wrong; even if it isn’t much you’ll know that
it is that and not something to be concerned about. Anyway I hope it
gets better quickly. As you mentioned in your last letter, Clarice is
also probably having a difficult time keeping her household running.
Will her knee get better with a little rest so that she can get along
if she is careful or will it require more than that? I believe you
mentioned something about an operation; it would be hard for her, &
them, if that were the case.
Today has been a very nice day, as was
also yesterday. Both were fairly cool but nice and sunshiny after
being cloudy for awhile in the morning. Yesterday afternoon I got in
my two hours of sitting in the sun in the park and this time it
really looks like I was out in it a little. I thought when I left
after 2 hours that I might have stayed out a little longer but I am
glad now that I didn’t. May 1 was a record warm day here in San
Francisco, both for all of the May 1’s on record and for this year.
I didn’t mind it as much tho as the other warm spell. May 2 started
out hot but cooled off suddenly about 10 or 11 and it has been cool
since.
I didn’t get around to writing
Thursday evening which makes it twice recently that I have missed the
usual mid-week letter. I’ll endeavour to do better hereafter.
Monday night I worked on the distillation problem; Tuesday I went to
the class. As I expected I didn’t do very good in the test;
however, a lot of other people didn’t either so I ended up slightly
above the average. The longer I attend the less enthusiastic I get
about the class. last Tuesday’s lecture was very dull and I almost
went to sleep. This week three problems were assigned and altho I
have spent considerable time on them they still aren’t complete,
requiring at least two hours more work. Whether it’s me or the
class I don’t know.
Last night, or rather Friday night, we
had dinner at a place called the Ritz Cafe or something like that.
This one was located very conveniently in downtown S.F. This makes
the second in a row that was a very good place. I had a broiled
salmon steak and it was really good; much better than the one I had
at Fisherman’s Wharf. Afterward we went to see Blackstone the magician. I wasn’t
very keen on going but the others wanted to so I went along. It was
interesting enough but whether it was worth the price of admission or
not I don’t know.
Yesterday morning I got my laundry and
a suit from the cleaners, had breakfast and worked on the
distillation assignment till noon, completing 2 of the problems. Then
I went downtown, completed some errands, came back, went to the park,
afterward read & practiced till suppertime. I went to bed early
after the usual Saturday night bath since I was still sleepy from the
night before, despite the fact that I didn’t get up till 7:30.
Today I got up about seven and working on my scrapbooks till 9:30
when I got dressed and went down to breakfast & to church. This
afternoon, till Fred Allen came on, I spent again on the distillation
assignment, get about 2/3+ of the way thru the last problem. Fred
Allen wasn’t very good this afternoon. I went downtown for a little
supper, came back and practice for awhile but didn;t feel in the mood
for it so stopped pretty soon. After I get this finished I guess I’ll
go to bed & listen to the Ford Sunday Evening Hour
or whatever program it is that has the music on it and comes on about
8:30.
As I wrote to you awhile ago I was very
undecided what to do about my church membership. Well, this morning I
thought I might as well transfer it here even if the church didn’t
seem too desirable. However, by the time the service was over I was
certainly not in the mood again, so I didn’t do anything about it.
I don’t know what’s wrong but practically all the time recently I
feel when I come out of church that I have been gypped. I get up in
the morning feeling nice and peaceful and after breakfast take a nice
little walk to church and see the nice day and the cute flowers in
people’s yards, all the time feeling like I’m glad it’s Sunday
& I am going to church. Then, boom!. as soon as I get in there
and the service stats I feel like a big wet blanket has been thrown
over my nice happy state of mind and I wish I were anyplace but
there. This is the case for almost any church service, not only the
one I usually go to, so your suggestion about visiting some others
isn’t too useful. Anyway, it leaves the whole situation up in the
air.
Roughly the possible alternatives are,
as far as I came make out: a) I can leave my membership indefinitely
in San Pedro. This I refuse to do absolutely. b) Transfer it to come
church here. This also I refuse absolutely to do. My experience so
far with any of them and an examination of the rest of them convinces
me that I certainly do not desire to be affiliated with them. c)
Transfer it back to Gowrie. This is acceptable to me, since altho I
have no illusions about Pastor Walfrid, nevertheless it is at a safe
enough distance so that it can’t make me unhappy. If you have any
other suggestions to offer I would be glad to hear them.
Since I have come to S.F., I have in
general been happier, than I have been at almost any previous time in
my life, except perhaps when I was going to Jr. College at Ft. Dodge.
There have been times when I haven’t liked it so well like the time
I got all wet walking home from the distillation class but mostly I
have liked it. I like the work I am doing, the place I stay, and the
things I do. I am most certainly not going to allow any generally
unsatisfactory church affiliation like I had in San Pedro mar the
possibility of such a state of mind & being continuing. Perhaps I
am wrong but that is certainly the way I feel.
Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the
folks at home,
This week has certainly been cloudy and
cool. I guess tho that the rainy season must be past since it didn’t
rain despite the cloudy weather. Frank says that out where he lives
(about a mile or so from the ocean shore) the fog has started to come
in in the evenings, a sign of summer there. Her ein Berkeley it
hasn’t been foggy however. I hope that it has warmed up and become
springlike at home so that the farmers have an opportunity to get
finished with their spring work.
As you mentioned in your last letter,
mother, I suppose it is a curious feeling to think that you will be
moving back to town soon. Just think, you won’t have all those
strawberries & raspberries, chickens etc etc. You won’t have
Mrs. Griffith to talk to altho doubtless there will be others in
town. It will seem strange coming home to you there too. I don’t
think I’ve been inside the house there since we left. not even when
I was helping paint the barn did I go in.
This week has passed along fairly
uneventfully. Tuesday night I went to class as usual. We had a test
and I certainly made a miserable showing. I’ll have to try to do
better in the next test. I guess I’ve been out of school too long
to know how to do well in them. Last night I went to an illustrated
lecture at Wheeler auditorium. It was part of a naturalist travelog &
was fairly interesting. Before going I had supper with Frank in S.F.
I haven’t transferred my church
membership here. As I believe I mentioned before I am not at all sure
what I want to do with it. I suppose I shouldn’t leave it in San
Pedro, but on the other hand there is no place here that I want to
join. I guess tho I’ll have to decide before long. My initial
impression of the minister hasn’t changed and aside from Sunday
services when I usually don’t meet or talk to any of them I have no
contact with any of the members.
Dear Father & Mother and the rest
of the folks at home,
Last night the clouds rolled in from
the sea and along in the evening it began to rain. I had gone to a
show & when I got out about ten o’clock it had let up but it
started in soon after I got back to my room. This morning it isn’t
raining but it sounds quite blustery outside; quite as tho it would
be nice to stay inside all day. It was warmer last night when it
began to rain but it is chilly again this morning.
Life has continued as usual since I
wrote Monday morning. Each evening I have been practicing except last
night when I decided to take a vacation & go to a show. My work
is also coming along pretty good — I am sort of winding things up
preparing to leave. I will probably be leaving the Saturday night
before Thanksgiving; to date I haven’t investigated any means of
shipping my stuff up there. I believe I will have to purchase another
trunk or get ahold of a large wooden box in which to put my books.
I also went to the library last night
and read awhile, mostly in periodicals. I had finished the book on
philosophy by Durant that I had been reading & brought it back.
This book had been, with a few minor exceptions, read entirely on the
way to & from work and while eating breakfast & supper. At
home there are usually other books to read so I utilized the
aforementioned time to get it read. It probably helped my digestion.
Yesterday two letters arrived, one from
Vivian & one from mother. I don’t know what to say about your
proposal to come home over Christmas, mother. It would certainly be
nice to be home, eat gryn, Swedish cookies etc etc, go to Julotta,
and take part in the other Christmas festivities — to say nothing
of seeing all the folks and the children. However, I don’t know if
it will be possible. if I had been staying in this vicinity I
certainly think that I would have make tentative plans to go, but
since I am moving the situation is slightly different. I haven’t
decided tho and will mull the matter over in my mind for awhile.
Well that’s about all for now,
With love
C.P.
P.S. I guess you’re really happy that
the furnace is getting installed. It is indeed fortunate that the
weather has been clement so far.
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.
Dear Father, Mother, and the rest of
the folks at home,
This has certainly been the rainiest
fall I have experienced in Calif. Most years it didn’t even rain at
all until November or December and this year it has had one previous
rainy spell & now another one has come along. Last night I woke
up to hear that it was raining, but it has held off today; now
however (about 5 o’clock) it is starting to sprinkle a little. I
guess it maybe the aftermath of the warm weather we had last Thursday
when the temperature got up to 96°F in downtown L.A. Friday was warm
not anything like that. Yesterday afternoon about 2 o’clock a solid
bank of clouds started rolling in from the sea — it certainly
look[ed] spectacular, just like a curtain being pulled across the
sky.
Friday night I went to a show after I
had practiced awhile on the piano. It was certainly a stinko
double-feature but I didn’t feel like doing anything else so sat
thru most of it. I didn’t get to bed till 11:30 which is way past
my usual bedtime. I woke up about 6:30 Saturday morning tho, went
down to church & practiced till about 9:00, took some clothes to
the cleaners, had breakfast, went to the bank, did some incidental
shopping and ordered a couple of lettering pens at the Floyd
Stationery Store. At one I had music lesson and then went down town
for some lunch, went to the library & read Time & took out a
book on, you guessed it, philosophy and came back to my room and read
till about seven. I took a hot shower and went to bed and got in a
good 11 hours of sleep. I woke up at 4 for a few minutes but I just
turned over and it was 7 before I woke up again.
This morning the S.S. had a missionary
program so the lesson period was shorter as a consequence. My class
is a lesson behind where they should be, so I tried to hurry them
thru the one for today even if the time was short, in order not to
get farther behind. I have looked thru the quarterlies we have —
they are the Christian Growth Series, evidently approved by the
Augustana Synod since J. Vincent Nordgren is one of the editors of
the series. My series covers the New Testament and I certainly feel
like a dope teaching it because it is, on the basis of the reading I
have done about the New Testament, certainly inaccurate not to say
deliberately untrue in some of the statements in makes. I have
incidentally checked on the authority of my stand and find that the
book where I got my new conception of the New Testament —
“Christian Beginnings” by Enslin is regarded as o.k. by the Augustana Synod & is used in classes
there, so I am sure I am right and the quarterlies are in error. But
I do wish that preachers and writers would stop dallying with truth
the way they do and not hesitate to say what is so, even if it
punctures some favorite traditions. This morning Pastor Swand said,
“Ye shall know the truth & the truth shall make you free” but
everybody seems to be hiding from the truth as if it were anathema;
but there I go again — I guess I’d better stop.
Dear Father, Mother, and the rest of
the folks at home,
Whew! Today has been a very warm day
altho it certainly did not start out that way. This morning it was
very foggy — you could scarcely see across the road — and it
seemed very cold. Perhaps it was just the high humidity that made it
seem cold but certainly found myself wishing for an extra sweater as
I stood waiting for my ride this morning. It was rather slow driving
because of the fog but we got to work not much later than usual. The
guy I ride with is a very good driver for which I am thankful. On the
other hand he doesn’t poke along if he can help it. It has really
been a saving in time to ride with him.
Life has continued about as usual. I am
back in the laboratory again as of noon today. It felt sort of good
to be messing around setting up equipment again. I have some
interesting experiments ahead of me if they turn out as I think they
should. Altho price controls have been lifted I have noticed no
changes yet, at least in restaurant & food prices. I don’t
think they will change much & if they do will soon return to
their previous levels. I suppose that the meat situation has changed
at home so that you can get some. Has any word been received about
the furnace yet? (that is, about getting the broken piece
replacement).
I have been reading another book on
philosophy which I got at the library. I think that in the not too
distant future I will start buying some of the original philosophical
works to add to my library. They no doubt will be harder reading than
commentaries but will probably be more thought-provoking.
Li’l Abner is really turning into a
sequence of top interest. Sadie Hawkins Day is coming up in about two
weeks (when Dogpatch gals chase the unfortunate Dogpatch bachelors to
see if they can snare themselves a husband) and there is indeed a
fearsome lineup this year. First of all there is the “Wolf-gal”
who is out to catch somebody so she can give her wolves something to
eat. Then there is “Lena the Hyena”
from Lower Slobbovia who is so awful-looking that everybody faints
when they see her. Truly the day is one of ill omen for the poor
Dogpatchers. I don’t know if you have heard about “Lena the
Hyena” but there have been two articles in Time about her, so she
is quite well known. Nobody has seen her to date; Al Capp has kept
her out of view, thereby building up her reputation.
Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the
folks at home,
Well, Sunday night again and another
week just around the corner. Today has been a rather quiet day. When
I woke up this morning I thought it was raining again since I could
hear water dripping from the eaves. It wasn’t tho but it was very
foggy and remained so till 8:30 or so. After church I walked home,
stopping at the store to get some bread, apples & cheese for
tomorrow’s lunch and then went over to the N.L.C. and practiced on
the piano till about 4:30. After supper I came back to my room and
listened to Fred Allen; after which I am writing this letter. There
weren’t too many people in church; they probably woke up, decided
it was raining and turned over & went to sleep again.
Yesterday I did the usual errands,
after I had got to the bank and got a check cashed. I had managed to
stretch my limited cash on hand so I even had enuf for breakfast
Saturday morning, but not much beside. I took come clothes to the
laundry, bought another letter file and some drawing paper and got a
haircut. After my music lesson I had lunch at the Owl Drug Store
— a new place I have discovered which isn’t too bad — and then
went to a show. It was a technicolored film called “Canyon Passage”
and it certainly had some beautiful photography of trees, streams,
mountains etc in it. Afterward I went to the library & browsed
around for awhile, had a dish of ice cream at the drug store &
came home & went to bed.
Aside from the foregoing I haven’t
done much this weekend. I had read a little in a book of philosophy I
got from the library during the week but not a great deal. I should
write a letter to Vivian but I don’t feel in the mood to do so
tonite. I just feel rather lazy-like and also a little tired of
people and things tonite — not enough to be depressed — just
enough to wonder at them and the things they do. I can sort of feel
myself working up into a philosophical mood. Maybe if I go to bed
early I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and lie and think
about anything that chances to cross my mind. I would say that that
is one of the few truly pleasureful times that occur in my existence.
You can’t sleep and you aren’t under any compulsion to get up
either by habit or necessity so you just abandon your mind to
speculation. Somehow or other your attitude becomes more detached and
you can view things more calmly & clearly.
Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the
folks at home,
Today has been a very nice day, quite
warm after noon but not too much so. This morning it was cloudy till
about eight and according to the forecast it will be that way
tomorrow too, so the day got a slow start towards getting warm.
This weekend has been much like any
other weekend; there were, however, several different things from the
ordinary occurring. Friday I got a notice to report for a
pre-induction physical examination. Saturday morning I spent chasing
around to find out where the board was located out here, to have it
transferred. They had moved over to Long Beach & consolidated
with other boards; when I got there they were closed so I’ll have
to see them Monday. I don’t know what they’ll so since I noticed
in the newspaper that the army has called off inductions for the rest
of the year. Personally I feel it’s just a waste of time both to me
and them but I doubt if you could ever tell them anything.
I had a music lesson, fairly
satisfactory and afterward I went to a show — “The Big Sleep.”
It was a detective show and it was a picture made on the basis of
Raymond Chandler’s stories. It followed the story fairly closely,
and as a consequence was pretty fair; it did stray somewhat however.
Today was my first Sunday teaching my
new S.S. class and it went along pretty good. I have only 2 boys in
the class and they are very attentive so that it will be easy
teaching them. This morning there was a baptism of a little girl, and
she was christened “Mary Elizabeth.” I could help but remember
that that is what you were going to call Marold, mother, had he been
a girl. I guess somebody else thought it was a euphonious name also.
After dinner I listened to the last of the ball game and heard the
Cardinals triumph over the Red Sox to even up the World Series. It
would certainly suit me to see the Cards crash them again. After that
I went over to church and practiced for awhile until I got tired and
quit about 4:15.
Tonite they are having an evening
service at church but I don’t know if I’ll go or not; I feel more
like just sitting around and loafing. However since it isn’t our
spirited pastor speaking I may go.
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