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2817 First Rd.,Arlington,Va.
23 Sept.1946.

Dear little Girlie:

Well, how goes it? By the time you receive this, you will have had one full day of the first of your college work, met in all your classes and been assigned lessons that probably seem mountainous. But I guess you can do it. I wonder how the dance came out? Did you get caught in the rain, or didn't it reach Cambridge untill later? We met it at Hartford,Conn. They say there was over an inch fell in Virginia the previous night. And Sunday, did you go to some church with the girls and come home to a wonderful Sunday dinner? I wonder if you had your breakfast in bed, didn't they tell us you could on Sunday morning? How did the physical come out? I hope you aren't discouraged by all the imperfections they managed to find in your body. I am awaiting your letter telling about things.

It is a dull Monday morning here, and I have lugged my typewriter over to the window by the Douglases, and am plugging away here until the weather makes up its mind whether to clear so I can do a tremendous wash or settled down to raining, as it seems almost ready to do. It was almost dark at 6 (7 your time) when we got up. Dad will have his first class tonight, so I shall be alone all day and evening, without even a radio. Do I miss you!

We left the grapes with Lena on leaving you, and she was surprised enough. She reiterated that she wanted you to come out to see her whenever you felt like it. She was knitting away behind her counter when we entered. Then we rode on to the Worcester road, and down through southern Mass. into Conn. Here we struck a beautiful new road, as wide and scenic as the Merritt Parkway. In fact I think it will eventually connect up with that as we found traces of it extending along thru Conn. north of New Haven. The coloring on this drive was gorgeous. We drove right down the main street of Meriden [[Meridin?]], Sophy's home town. It is a rather nice big country city, with trees, big old houses, and spaces between them full of lawns and gsrdens [[gardens]]. I noticed one pretentious brown house with a most ornate iron fence about it. When Sophy called me up just a few minutes after our reaching home I told her that we had just passed thru her town and described the house. She said, "My parents live about 2 blocks from that mansion." When we reached the Merritt Parkway the heavens split wide open, and a deluge came down that prevented us from seeing more than 20 yards ahead, say nothing about the beauties of the drive.Dad drove like all possessed thru it all, and I hung on. It poured all thru N.Y.C.,so I couldn't see the Hudson either, and finally let up as we were going over the Sky drive in New Jersey. We reached Giehl's camp just about dusk, before we had to light up. Old Mrs. Giehl looks younger than ever, with her thick white hair all fashionably waved. She recognised us at once and asked where you were, and if you were a big girl now. She told us her daughter - the one who always looked after the cabins with her, was working in a Trenton store, and her daughter was married and had a little baby, and all of them lived with her now, so she couldn't have anyone staying in the house anymore. Winters lately she had been shutting up the place and spending in St. Pete,Fla. I guess the tourist business hasn't been what it used to be of late gasoleneless years. But of the 10 cabins Sat. night 7 were occupied. They were as clean and nice as ever. Our old cat used the box provided for him and ate some of the halibut steak we had for supper in the Bordentown Diner we used to frequent. I wished you were there for the supper, also for the breakfast that we got at the next Diner -- Dad had pancakes and bacon in large quantities! But you probably had a better meal in bed. The cat was so wise, - next morning we