7/25/39
Hi Precious:
Gee, have I been having a swell time!
Friday night after Scout meeting, Mr. Roberts, who is chairman of the troop committee invited me to spend the week-end with him at his cabin near here. I accepted, of course, and we went home and got some clothes and things for me.
When we arrived, you could have knocked me over with a feather. It is an authentic log cabin, with good, solid logs used in the construction. But it also has such things as a shower, a tub, running water of course, gas stove, and electricity (no electric refrigerator because it would sound too loud out in the woods). The cabin is surrounded by heavy woods on three sides and has lake Taunton* in front. Although only 16 miles from Camden, it seems millions of miles away. We had a couple of cans of beer and then hit the hay.
Bob, who is a florist, had to work part of Saturday and Sunday, so when I got up, he was gone. I had breakfast and cleaned up the place and then went out. He has three canoes, so I took the tipsiest one out for a couple of hours. It was my second time in a canoe and I had no trouble at all.
About three p.m., Bob and Pete DaCosta, who is a reasonably well-to-do manufacturer of canned delicacies (olives, etc.) arrived for some fishing. Since I don’t like to fish, I paddled the canoe for them. Did I laugh when they complimented me on the way I handled it and I told them it was my second time in one of the gadgets.
We got home rather late and had a whale of a supper of sweet corn, some kind of greens, roast beef and fresh peaches.
Sunday I put in a total of about fifteen miles of paddling, as well as swimming about half a mile (non-stop) on three separate occasions. Big dinner on Sunday night was followed by same kind of breakfast this morning and then we came back to Camden.
I am invited out there next week to the American Legion picnic. The post (Thoir) is made up of the better businessmen about Camden and some from Philly. Imagine a guy born in 1916 being part of an American Legion picnic?
I shall report in detail.
I didn’t decide to call you last week until about three minutes before I talked to you. Needless to say, I enjoyed it. Guess I’m still a little bashful over the telephone, hi.
Is there any good reason why you can’t come out here, arriving Monday 8-14 or Tuesday, you first full week of vacation? Then you could stay the full week. It looks as if you will stay here at the house, either the front room next to me, or Marje’s. If she is here, you may have to double up, but she is a quiet sleeper (Oh, oh! Is that a nice thing to say? Observation from outside her door). Otherwise, you may have her room. In any case, you’ll have a place to stay. If nothing else, you can have my room, and I’ll sleep on the front porch. Roberts made a few remarks about having us out to the cabin for part of the time. May materialize, but don’t count on it.
If our Arizona honeymoon** can’t be managed, I’m inclined to ask Bob to rent us the cabin for a couple of weeks. It would be ideal, although we might have to do something about a car. Might do that anyway after I’m out of school. You didn’t know it, but you were with me every minute of that swell time.
Thanks for the tie gadget. I lost the other a couple of days ago and felt undressed without it.
That’s about all, precious. Oh yes, No effect of the Nena business yet. It makes me boil. Frankly, I don’t think that it just happened. I believe she unconsciously planned it. Further, when got fried from the Patio, I feel that it was the same way. She has never been able to face herself. She feels like she has had to work too hard. Jack started seven years before Nena did and has had to work twice as hard and as long. And yet Jack has never complained at all. Nena may be the oldest, but she certainly has been a spoiled little girl. She deliberately does things wrongly, and then feels so badly about it that no one thinks of blaming her for it. It’s a funny world darling. I’m glad I got a good little scout like you for a partner.
Loads of love for my baby girl, Cy.
*Taunton Lake, Medford, NJ. See: http://www.tauntonlake.org/history.htm
**Cousins John and Blenda Fast had a vacation home in Arizona that Cy hoped he and Marty would be able to use for their honeymoon.