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Mon 4-23-59
Dear Daddy,
It has taken too long for me to start writing this. I only hope it doesn't turn out to be one of my 8 day epic letters.
For the last week, we have been entertaining a flu bug. First me, & then Jim. She seems to be immune. I hope it's something that fat, nosy babies don't get. Illness at this point would slow down her progression toward walking. She's just about ready for the real thing, though she stands with confidence for long periods, & takes a minced one or two experimental steps before sitting down. Yesterday she really lifted the lid on a candy dish, helped herself to a malted milk ball, then replaced the lid. Though it made a mighty bulge in her cheeck, she polished it off with gusto. Last week, she suddenly discovered stuffed animals. She plays with the tiger the Lanni's sent her & the teddy bear that Mother sent her, & right now she's
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scolding to sleep the Sleepy Sally that the Smith's sent her. I only hope she'll follow suit. This is a nice quiet neighborhood for napping children. There are several policemen living nearby, who also have napping children, so this area is well policed at nap time, even though our street is a minor arterial.
Your letter of last Saturday was a very pleasant surprise. That is a very generous thing for you to do, & we appreciate it very much. Buying this house & thus starting a permanent investment in a home, means a great deal to us. We have been on a pretty severe savings program for almost 2 years, to realize a down payment not in keeping with the current trend of nothing down, everything a month, forever, but with the aim of having low house payments, so that we can make the most of these low expense years, & to cut our overhead low enough so that Jim can go to school.
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The six-hundred dollars you sent will mean a great deal toward our goal of a $3000 down payment. It is that grueling last lap when we're almost too tired to appreciate the fact that we've finally arrived at our goal. Thank you very much for helping us with this most important step into the future we have planned. We know that we can't expect things to turn out to the letter as we plan them. As God wills it & as we're able, though, we're going to try to get these basics set up as soon as possible. I hope that the above gives you some idea of how much we appreciate your gift & how much it means to us. We appreciate the love with which you gave it, also what it means for you to break off chunks of your capital like that. That was a very generous thing for you to do.
Sun. Another week-end is almost over & it seems like we got very little done. Everything must be planned around
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Pooh's nap time. Jim put some long promised mufflers & tailpipes on his mother's car. Since they were tailored to her specification, it was no 5 minute job. We have recently acquired a set of welding tanks & the necessary accessories, through a complicated series of trades, and they certainly come in handy. Jim is trying to wind up all the things he promised to do for various people, some as long as a year ago. We didn't know what we were getting into at the time. Time is something we only wish we had right now. The day begins before six and we're lucky if we can get to bed before 11:00. We're look- forward to spending our spare time on our house, but of couse we have to have the house first. We have a deal cooking on a 10 in. lathe, too, and we hope to manufacture our own lamps with it, exotic combinations of brass, steel, and
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aluminum. First, for the sake of light, we're planning to wire a couple of significant champagne bottles that will later be bar lamps.
I was reading the Palo Alto Times sport section the other day and noticed that Dewey Hecht is the coach for the Menlo college crew. I was thinking of him last week, and how we used to borrow his shotgun, because I finally bought my own shotgun. I went to an auction at the County Administrator's office and purchased by discriminating bidding, a 20 gauge, bolt-action, magazine- loading Monkey-Ward Western Field gun, for all of $6.75. As soon as we get time, we're going to check it out, & take it up to Yuba City & try it out. It's not fancy, but it gives every appearance of working, and up where Jim's uncle lives, there's lots of fowl hunting. Some friends of mine have some land up there that they rent to duck hunters, & I'm hoping
