314 N. Fremont St. River Falls, Wis. December 1960
Dear Ones All:
Apparently to some this is the time of the year when the “Christmas neurosis” is most prevalent. For us the Christmas season is the most happy of all happy times. In a way Christmas makes meaningful a thousand things which have been obscured by our “rest-of-the-year” hurry and carelessness.
First again, we must report of last summer. Gabriel was hauled to the Black Hills and from there we went by tent and station wagon to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We had the usual bear fights over food-scraps all night in camp. The park was dry and dusty and fire was a constant threat. We saw all the usual tourist attractions and returned to Rapid City via Billings and visited the Custer Little Bighorn battlefield. We spent 16 days in all. We made several short trips with the trailer, having excellent weather each time. We have now used the trailer 186 days.
Douglas is in grade eight and is 5-10 and weighs 155 pounds. He has had his major growth spurt this year since school began. He played little league baseball during the summer. His favourite game is baseball. At present he is the center on the Junior High basketball team. They have a schedule of ten games and have a four won & one lost record so far. Now that Doug has grown so, all three children are just an inch apart.
Bruce is 5-11 and 165 pounds. This makes both boys about the same weight as Will was at college graduation. Bruce is a Sophomore in High School and is taking driver’s training during noon hours. He is anxious to get his driver’s license so he can drive on our trips. Church choir and school choir keep him singing and he is doing a solo this Christmas. This year and only this year, by the way, we have three teen agers in the family.
Merry is a Junior in college. She directs choir, and has many other musical activities, besides having four pupils in clarinet and piano. She worked at the Dells again and did some camp work again. She will probably be either at the U. of Minnesota for ten weeks or at the U. of Wisconsin for eight, next summer to pick up some things she has missed at our school.
Betty will continue on her master’s next summer, either at the U. of Minn. or at the U. of Wis. She is challenging WIll’s grade point average for graduate work, but we hope she won’t be at it so long! She made some prints this summer that are in demand but when her teaching begins the creative output becomes less. A letter arrived this fall addressed to Mrs. Elizabeth, River Falls, Wis. and it was for Betty! At least she has local fame.
Will is going to teach at the U. of Wisconsin this summer. The details are rather involved, but part of it involves the gifted child, which is a special interest. At the thirtieth year reunion of his High School class he said , “What a bunch of old bald-headed guys!”. The “girls” seemed better preserved.
We seem to have had less company this year than usual. Our most distant guests were from Southern Rhodesia, Liberia, and Israel. We heard the excellent choir from Yugoslavia at the U. of Minnesota and also our old school Bradley played the U. This was interesting since Bradley is rated the number two basketball team in the country. Of course we saw much baseball and are very happy that major league ball is coming to the Twins next year.
The big white cat on cover is Jinger. He is three-fourths Siamese, but pure white. Bruce took three weeks to select him from the litter and he is a wonderful pet. He greets you all with a Meowy Christmas.
We enjoy all the greetings and many such letters we receive at this time. We ought all at least once a year take account of our friends and their welfare.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Harrises
Will Betty Merry Bruce Douglas