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47

Aili Kearns had a beach party on the Peninsula tonight - really a picnic - which brought together the Wilson, Staley, Richards, Knight, Gouldthorpe clans - and us including the Colonel, who was bashful about going but was the life of the party. A storm rolled up across the lake which dispersed the party early and then it never did rain in spite of ominous leaden sky and wind - and the heat continues around 90° and sultry - worst weather all summer and takes the sap right out of you. The whole gang stopped in our backyard en route home for some more chatting. I was greatly embarassed by having only 4 bottles of beer on ice and the refrigerator too slow to cool any more in a hurry. But the yard looked nice and all seemed to enjoy themselves. Earl Kearns, active in Civil Air Patrol work here, provided some interesting talks on the weather - how to judge effect of clouds, wind, etc, using the impending (but never arriving) storm as an example. 

Earl's Urban Transit business has practically gone to pot under the clamping down program on material by WPB, ODT, Requirements Committee, etc. but he has various offs and ends of defense jobs to occupy his gang. Jim Knight's great refrigerator cabinet shop is converted entirely to war work, the big item being searchlight power plants by the thousands, taken over from Bldg. 10. 

Erie. Pa., 
Sunday, July 19, 1942.

I fear we were unpatriotic today but we decided to splurge just once this summer and drive up to Buffalo to Lorenzo's for dinner - sort of a grand finale for my vacation which ends today. The car had a high load factor with five of us in it, and we held our speed to 35 to 40 MPH to favor our tires - and didn't feel too guilty. That's what's wrong with the country, I suppose --