Sat, May 18, 1946: John Brown

"Our little excursion to the old John Brown battleground didn't pan out so well.  We're now sitting on the front porch of the Storer College Administration building waiting for the mountain shower to stop.  Also the RR strike might leave us stranded up here with the W Va hillbillies."

--Letter from my father, Washington, D.C., to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Saturday, May 18, 1946.

Sun, May 12, 1946: "men in the woods"

"Yesterday we got in some body conditioning... Bob, John, and I --along with Rod Devin -- another former Boulder student -- rode to the end of the Cabin John streetcar line.  Out there the wild country next to the Potomac with its jungle of trees, undergrowth, and rivulets, makes you feel isolated from civilization.  To break the spell you're always stumbling on the back of a settlement of houses, or the station for renting boats to fishermen.  Once while resting in a clearing, some kids of the nearby community found us.  For about an hour we had a steady job entertaining them. If the kids - age 6 to 8 - take home stories about the 'men in the woods', they'll probably be in line for a lecture on strangers."

--Letter from my father, Washington, D.C., to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Sunday, May 12, 1946.

Sun, May 12, 1946: new colt

"Old Foxy has a new colt.  Last evening Stanley went up to her in the pasture to get a good view of the colt and Foxy bit him on the throat and knocked him down.  He really thought he was ruined for a while but this morning was much better.  The teeth marks still show. I told him he'd have a hard time trying to make the other fellow believe it was a horse that bit him."

-- Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Washington, D.C.,  Sunday, May 12, 1946.

Mon, Apr 29, 1946: his shed

"Daddy with the help of several men has torn down the other half of his shed. He tried to get Bob Hughes to help build the forms for the foundation but was unsuccessful because he is building a barn and could not come."

--Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Washington, D.C., Monday, April 29, 1946.

Sun, Apr 21, 1946: hose, size 10

"I am sending you a package of cookies.  They will be your belated Easter gift.

"Say if you ever can find any rayon or milon hose, size 10, I'd appreciate it very much if you could get me some, any color except black.  Mine are almost entirely worn out and we just can't get any."

-- Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Washington, D.C.,  Sunday, April 21, 1946.

Sun, Apr 21, 1946: foreign famine

"We've cut out wheat bread altogether -- and rice and wheat cereals -- in line with the program to help relieve foreign famine.  Dad, are you planning to take advantage of the 30c govt. bonus on wheat -- or do you have any in stock?  Hearing stories like the one the Nave's tell about India makes it seem criminal, almost, to hang onto any wheat that might go overseas."

--Letter from my father, Washington, D.C.,  to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Sunday, April 21, 1946.

Thu, Apr 18, 1946: Caravan

“I hope that the announcement of the fact that you are to Caravan this summer was glad news for you.”

-- Form letter from Harvey C. Brown, chairman, personnel committee, Methodist Youth Caravans, Nashville, Tenn., to my mother, Ruth Esther Murray (Brown), [Winfield, Kans.], Thursday, April 18, 1946.  My mother was preparing for youth caravan, where young church members would visit rural churches in Missouri to help them with developing youth programs.

Sun, Apr 14, 1946: Senate Judiciary Committee

"Yesterday was a profitable one from the standpoint of discovering how our government operates.  A notice in the Post of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting at 10:00 A.M. aroused our curiosity.... [N]one could compared with committee chairman, Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada. The typical Western senator, McCarran had heavy jowls, a shaggy mane of white hair, wrinkles creased in the sagging fat of his face, and bifocal glasses.  Slouched in his heavily padded chair at the head of the committee table, he looked like an old mother hen, his face that is.  His drooping eyelids weren't a very accurate indication of the state of his mind.  Time and again he put the more loquacious witnesses on the spot with his carefully-framed questions."

-- Letter from my father, Washington, D.C.,  to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Sunday, April 14, 1946.

Sat, Apr 6, 1946: a fraternization problem

"Never talk about strangers around you--even if the remarks are cloaked in Japanese.  John learned that--the hard way-Friday night.  While waiting for the bus he commented on the large number of captains and commanders standing near us--in Japanese, of course.  Spotting a scrambled-eggs man eyeing him with an amused smile, I said to John, 'Be careful what you say' in Japanese; whereupon the commander responded with a "Hai, ki wo tuske nasai', meaning: 'Yes, be careful'.  He got a big kick out of the incident; then told us that he had taken the course under Naganuma, himself, (author of our textbook) while stationed at the embassy in Tokyo....

"The office was brightened up considerably last Thursday, when the WAC nisei translators moved in.  We've had women around, but they were all women of 30--WAVES who are now being discharged.  Judging from the stir the younger army girls created, Cmdr. Steele may have a fraternization problem on his hands."

-- Letter from my father, Washington, D.C.,  to his family, Bloomington, Kans., Saturday, April 6, 1946.

Tue, Apr 2, 1946: eighth graders

"That office force reminds me of my ambitious? eighth graders  They try to see how little they can do and get by. It is really trying to a teacher to have pupils so careless and indifferent when I'm trying my best to teach them things I know they'll need to know in order to pass the exams.

"Only six more weeks until school is out."

-- Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, April 2, 1946.