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515 Bash Court
Champaign, Ill.
December 30, 1959

Dear folks,

We came back from Chicago on Monday afternoon. The weather was mild and rainy, as it has been for some time. No 75 degrees for us! Now the weather is cloudy and a light snow falls from time to time. We haven't had clear skies for I don't remember how long. Leaving Chicago around 2:30 the sky grew as dark as night, although no precipitation fell while we were going through the city.

The Christmas there was quiet. Jim and Shirley came over for a Christmas eve dinner of beef and to exchange presents. On Christmas day Vi and John Kelpsch and their 3 little boys came over in the afternoon and the Starck sisters for a ham dinner. On Saturday we and the Fred Davises went out to visit Pete Tappan and family in Bartlett, Ill., about 30 miles away. On Sunday afternoon we took Grandpa and Marguerite to dinner at the Steve Davises (they had asked), this time having turkey. There were a lot of big meals plus a lot of Christmas candy and cookies, so we are not eating lightly to recover, although we have not felt ill.

A note from Jack before he goes off to work:

That contraption for mounting the telescope (It is made of cast iron) is supposed to be screwed on the end of a length of four inch diameter pipe, the other end of the pipe being sunk into the ground. The telescope probably won't fit in the slot without some modification of one or the other. The modification should not (I hope) be too hard. The telescope should also have a counterweight added on, I think. I can do all these things the next time I get there.

One word about the bag: believe it or not, it cost less than the bag you sent to me, so don't think it has to be reserved much!