Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Good looking man hours. God there is nothing like watching professional man hours at work especially when the man hours are hunks. Our 'minimalist' garden required about three man hours's worth of intensive leaf blowing, pruning, raking, debris removal, and winterizing. From that standpoint the $200-plus it will likely cost for services rendered are well worth it given my calculations that it would have taken hubby and me three days to do the same (we have one rake between us and that's about it). The garden looks gorgeous. Our backs are saved. Probably our marriage as well had we had to spend 72 hours working in the garden together. Three hour view of working brawn outside? Priceless.
Electronic back-up of a time and world long gone. The mother in San Francisco came across a faded letter recently, dated June 29th, 1962. It was a letter my father had written to his sister in New York asking if she would take care of me should anything happen to them. I would have been two-and-a-half at the time. My father would die about a year later in an automobile accident just outside of San Francisco. Bear with me as I transpose this letter to its electronic safe keeping place. The italics are mine.
29 June, 1962
Dear Joan,
I am enclosing a notarized statement regarding the legal guardianship of Anna in the unlikely event of the death of both parents and her survival. We hope you will be willing and able to take care of her upbringing. If not, please let us know and we will find someone else. Please note, confidentially, that we specifically do not want her raised by either grandparents. [interesting...] We both thought you would enjoy rearing her without spoiling her, but might be wrong. Anyway it's probably all very remote but we thought we'd take the precaution anyway in view of the amount of air traveling we do etc.
Just returned from a five day holiday on the English "Riviera." Some English friends made their trailer by the sea available to us and we had a fine time. The weather was favorable. We bought past cards but as usual never got around to mailing them. We still aim to see something of Scotland and Wales before taking off for our new assignment in Tripoli (Libya). As you may know, this base and of course the school, is being closed down and it was necessary to accept a new assignment. I'll have the Junior High School at Wheelus Air Base and we'll have living accommodations on the Mediterranean Sea. It also permits us to return to the States each summer during the hot spell. We are looking forward to it but there is still a chance that we may return to the States permanently instead of taking another assignment. If so, would probably settle in the San Francisco area. Can't see raising children in NYC.
Anna is growing fast and talking a whole lot now. She knows all her colors and can recognize small groups of things. She has a tremendous memory and continually surprises me with it. [this must have been shortly before Anna Bloviation's got Alzheimer's at the age of four...]. She loves books and magazines but of course can't read. Nancy is fine and except for the miserable winter we had has enjoyed her stay in England. It will be quite a change if we end up in Tripoli. [we did end up in Tripoli and I remember sitting on the porch swatting flies in the brutally hot son. I remember the sand storms. We had a German Shepard guard dog named Juno].
.......[a who-visited-whom boring family part]............... In case I don't write for awhile, happy 34th birthday (good grief). I refuse to patronize that silly-assed greeting card industry any longer so please don't feel offended when you don't get a card. The same goes for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, Valentine's Day, the birth of your baby and any other appropriate occasion that might come along. No cards. [what an amazing genetic illumination of how Anna Bloviation's became Anna Bloviation's].
School has closed but I'm still on duty -- have to send all equipment, textbooks, etc. to various bases in Europe. Have to work or take leave until it's time to report to my next duty station so I'm in no particularly hurry.
We'll see you next June unless you can manage to get abroad. Hope all goes well with you.
Love, Buzz, Nancy, Anna
Electronic back-up of a time and world long gone. The mother in San Francisco came across a faded letter recently, dated June 29th, 1962. It was a letter my father had written to his sister in New York asking if she would take care of me should anything happen to them. I would have been two-and-a-half at the time. My father would die about a year later in an automobile accident just outside of San Francisco. Bear with me as I transpose this letter to its electronic safe keeping place. The italics are mine.
29 June, 1962
Dear Joan,
I am enclosing a notarized statement regarding the legal guardianship of Anna in the unlikely event of the death of both parents and her survival. We hope you will be willing and able to take care of her upbringing. If not, please let us know and we will find someone else. Please note, confidentially, that we specifically do not want her raised by either grandparents. [interesting...] We both thought you would enjoy rearing her without spoiling her, but might be wrong. Anyway it's probably all very remote but we thought we'd take the precaution anyway in view of the amount of air traveling we do etc.
Just returned from a five day holiday on the English "Riviera." Some English friends made their trailer by the sea available to us and we had a fine time. The weather was favorable. We bought past cards but as usual never got around to mailing them. We still aim to see something of Scotland and Wales before taking off for our new assignment in Tripoli (Libya). As you may know, this base and of course the school, is being closed down and it was necessary to accept a new assignment. I'll have the Junior High School at Wheelus Air Base and we'll have living accommodations on the Mediterranean Sea. It also permits us to return to the States each summer during the hot spell. We are looking forward to it but there is still a chance that we may return to the States permanently instead of taking another assignment. If so, would probably settle in the San Francisco area. Can't see raising children in NYC.
Anna is growing fast and talking a whole lot now. She knows all her colors and can recognize small groups of things. She has a tremendous memory and continually surprises me with it. [this must have been shortly before Anna Bloviation's got Alzheimer's at the age of four...]. She loves books and magazines but of course can't read. Nancy is fine and except for the miserable winter we had has enjoyed her stay in England. It will be quite a change if we end up in Tripoli. [we did end up in Tripoli and I remember sitting on the porch swatting flies in the brutally hot son. I remember the sand storms. We had a German Shepard guard dog named Juno].
.......[a who-visited-whom boring family part]............... In case I don't write for awhile, happy 34th birthday (good grief). I refuse to patronize that silly-assed greeting card industry any longer so please don't feel offended when you don't get a card. The same goes for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, Valentine's Day, the birth of your baby and any other appropriate occasion that might come along. No cards. [what an amazing genetic illumination of how Anna Bloviation's became Anna Bloviation's].
School has closed but I'm still on duty -- have to send all equipment, textbooks, etc. to various bases in Europe. Have to work or take leave until it's time to report to my next duty station so I'm in no particularly hurry.
We'll see you next June unless you can manage to get abroad. Hope all goes well with you.
Love, Buzz, Nancy, Anna
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