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18

On March 12th I went skiing at the Erie Golf Club with Perk, Gordon McDonald, Harry Harrington, Marshall Henshaw and Harold Ogden, and we had a great time. The following photo of this group must have been taken by Perk as he's the only one missing. Obviously we're not an elite bunch from the heterogeneous costumes and equipment but we had a lot of fun anyhow:

[[image: five men stand facing the camera atop a snowy hillside, the two at the end holding their skis vertically, the middle three men wearing skis. They are dressed in various clothes, a woollen suit jacket, a windcheater, etc. One appears to have trouser legs rolled up exposing bare legs. They wear a variety of hats (trilby, woolen bobble hat, flat tweed cap) and are mostly smiling despite driving snow.]]
[[Caption]]Ogden Craton McDonald Henshaw Harrington[[/caption]]

The day after the skiing, we drove to the Peninsula and found the "ice barrier" along the beach ten to fifteen feet high in places, the road undermined beyond the lighthouse, and the lake and Bay frozen--and sweet spring had been with us only eight days before.

We continued to have fairly regular penny-ante nickel-limit poker sessions and I suppose the winnings and losings averaged out pretty well but whenever I'd lose more than a dollar or so I'd begin to think of quitting because I felt I couldn't afford it. But these poker parties did provide us with something to make us forget the generally unhappy situation we were in because of the depression and probably had a therapeutic value. The best party of the year was held by Perk out at Jake Brauns' cottage (actually Ethel's parents' cottage) on the lake on April 6th. Present were Perk, Jake, Hoddy, Gouldthorpe, Lynch, Roy Sjoberg and I. Perk served brandy, grape wine and ginger ale and everyone got into just a jolly mood except Roy, who in spite of winning most of the money, got mean and ugly--referred to all of us as bastards and sons-of-bitches and called Jake a son of a bitch at one point. If Jake hadn't made allowances for Roy being ugly-drunk, there might have been a fight. Jake called him on it pleasantly and showed good judgment in letting it pass but I put Roy at the foot of the list on the strength of that performance. It was a great party though in spite of Roy. I discovered that Lynch was a good egg among other things. I was $2 in the hole most of the evening but won at the end and came out 98¢ to the good. It was a perfect place for a party.