Stewart Letter #31

I forgot to post this letter on the date it was written - August 1st. At least it’s still August - barely!

Letter #31 - from Stewart to Dad 

HEADQUARTERS AND SERVICE COMPANY FIFTEENTH ENGINEER BATTALION ARMY POST OFFICE NUMBER NINE UNITED STATES ARMY1

August 1, 1946

Dear Dad,

Received your letters on consecutive days, so I was not kept in suspense too long as to the whereabouts of the pictures. The picture of you is the first I have seen of you for a long time. I notice that it was taken in the back yard at 1082.2

This morning, Air Force Day and 9th Div Org Day, we paraded for Maj Gen McBride and Lt Gen Keyes, Third Army Commander3. The parade was supposed to begin at 1000, but we waited until 1030, and it was announced that there would be a delay of 15 minutes until the Third Army Commander arrived. Finally, at 1100, a big, black car of foreign make, with MP's on motorcycles a block ahead and behind, drove up. Today is the 6th Anniversary of the activation of the 9th Inf Div in this war.

When I first came here, on the 6th of July, we lived in an apartment-style building about 8 or 9 blocks from the central part of town, about a 10-minute walk. But now we have moved to a Kaserne, which is a camp set off from the community around it by a wall. We are now about a 15-minute ride from the center of town. We live in barracks-like buildings, with the whole company on two floors. The center hall must be two blocks long, and it goes around a corner and the 138t Engr C Bn has some men on it. We have our own bus, which makes several trips downtown, but not always at the time that one wants the transportation. So, if we happen to see a 138 truck, why, we stop him and climb on. We moved everything in one big day. And when you consider that we had a number of desks to move, and quantities of records, besides our own personal belongings, it was not such a small job. I know that my roommates's and my stuff together filled the rear of a 3/4 ton truck.

Since I came down in the first shipment from the 10th Engr, two or three groups have left there, and many of them have come down here, consequently we have a majority among ourselves, almost, and have no trouble in finding old friends. It happens also, that the former S-3 officer in the 10th is now our company commander here. And the former first sergeant of B Co of the 10th is filling in here in the same position in H/S Co of the 15th.

________________________

1 Since Stewart's last letter (last March), Stewart had been transferred from Homberg, Germany to Augsburg, Germany (he refers to this move in ¶3). Shirley and I visited there in 1984 when we were driving around Germany, but we were not permitted to enter the camp.2 By this time we had returned to Minneapolis from Morganfield, KY, Dad was out of the service, and we were living at the home we owned at 1082 13th Street.
3 This is Geoffrey Keyes (1888-1967), who was closely associated with Gen. George Patton, and of whom Patton said "he has the best tactical mind of any officer I know." Maj Gen McBride is probably Horace L. McBride who in 1946 was commanding General of the 9th Division (Stewart refers to this day as the 6th Anniversary of the activation of the 9th Division). These were two very important generals.

Lt. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes

In the second shipment, my old friend, Raymond Flynn,4  whom I went with to Ft. Leavenworth back in Nov 44, and met again at Camp Pickett, Va, and came over with and went to the 10th Engr with came down here also. He lives in Chelsea, Iowa, not far from Marshalltown. The Bn mail clerk, who also hails from the 10th Engr, lives in Jelley,5 Iowa, and says he knows where Anamosa is. As soon as I got your first letter, I went to a map of the U.S., and I found Anamosa is. It isn't far from either Minneapolis or the places in which we used to live in Illinois.6

I hope that you can sell the house for as much as you quoted, for then you would not be put out to get a new car. I would like to know about it, for I am interested in driving now, myself, after working around in the motor pool for several months. I learned how to drive in Homberg, Germany. I can drive a jeep and a 3/4 ton truck, and i know how to shift the gears on a 2 1/2 ton truck, but Iave never had one out on the road. Of course, I have not driven either a jeep or a 3/4 ton truck very much, but played around a little, for I never got a license and I didn't learn much about maintenance. I would like to get a brand-new jeep when I get back, if only they didn't cost so much. I heard that they cost $1000 new now in the states. Of course they are sold over here for $500, but they are used, and although good, would cost something to take home, and repair would have to be done at some time in the near future.

Today is supposed to be a holiday, but S-1 worked all day. However, we still have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Your faithful son, Stewart

4 I have been unable to find any reference to this Raymond Flynn online, but there is an older Raymond Flynn, my father's age, buried in Chelsea, Iowa - that may be this Raymond Flynn's father.
5 There is no "Jelley" Iowa, but there is a "Kelley" Iowa, and since "j" and "k" are next to each other on the typewriter, I'll assume this is a typo.
6 By the time this letter was received, we must have been very close to moving to Anamosa, or maybe were already there. I entered ninth grade in Anamosa High School the fall of 1946 - 75 years ago!

Anamosa High School in 1946 (the High School is in back, the Elementary School is in front.

Today, both these buildings  are gone)

The end of August

The last day of August feels like the end of summer. And what a summer it has been: A trip to the West Coast; an intense physical therapy program;  time in Maine; and quite a lot of time just enjoying our house in the woods. All in the shadow of a pandemic, but because we were vaccinated, not really very restricted. All in all, a good summer.

What lies ahead? Some of our usual choral activity that would be starting up in the fall is on hold. I am not sure where study of the Zohar stands at this point. Ellen was talking this morning about a possible trip to Philadelphia to visit friends, and also talking about getting serious about sorting through stuff and getting rid of stuff. There will be the Common Ground fair in late September. We hope to do some things with John and Cynthia. They are in fact coming over this evening for a potluck supper. The Davises are having a sing at their house on Friday evening. Savanna is going to spend some time with us this month. No doubt there will be some trips to Northampton. I am sure there will be no shortage of things to do!

Last evening I attended on Zoom a celebration of the retirement of Dr. Stephen Ray from his position as president of Chicago Theological Seminary. I have never met him in person, but feel that I have gotten to know him through Zoom sessions online. Among the guests that I saw was Laurel Schneider, who was one of my teachers 20+ years ago when I was pastor in residence at CTS. I enjoyed so much her course  on “womanist theology.” I greeted her and we had a little exchange via chat. 

When we were at the cottage in Maine, a seagull flew up and perched on the railing just outside the front door, and he posed for his portrait. I will let him send end-of-summer greetings to all of my viewers.

“Goodbye, Summer!”

Union service today

 Our church service today was a “union” service - I.e., it brought five churches together into one service: the host church, Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro (where I was the Assistant Minister, 1957-1960), Dummerston Congregational Church (where I was the minister during those same years- 57-60), Guilford Community Church (where I was an assistant to Shirley, 1985-1997), First Congregational Church, West Brattleboro (where I have preached several times), and West Dover Congregational Church (where I have also preached many times). As you can see, I feel a strong connection with all five of these churches!

The host minister was the Rev. Dr. Scott Couper, whom I like very much. Scott came to Centre Church three years ago after 20 years as a missionary in South Africa. He is author of a biography of one of my heroes—Albert Luthuli, founder of the African National Congress and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate whom I met personally as a fourteen-year-old at a church camp in Iowa! Scott preached a provocative sermon in which he compared the fishermen disciples Matthew and John who (according to tradition) went on to become the apostolic authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John, to contemporary Christians who are brave enough to tackle modern technology as a way to expand the outreach of the Gospel (such as we are doing in these Zoom services)! Scott always preaches with high energy and passion and did so today. 

Rev. Scott Couper in his home pulpit.

A more informal photo of Scott 

       The interior of Centre Congregational Church

The service included musical pieces and hymns recorded earlier in the church sanctuary, live readings by persons from their homes, two other ministers speaking live from their churches, and Scott both speaking live from his home and playing a recording of his sermon with illustrations, all seamlessly put together - a technical skill we have learned due to the restrictions forced on the churches by COVID-19!

So - thank you Scott and Centre Church!

Farewell, Maine - for now!

                     Goodbye little cottage! 

Today, we are heading back home. The temperatures have cooled down, and driving is more comfortable without the AC. So we packed and said goodbye to our lovely little cottage, and we stopped at Jim and Mary‘s and got some vegetables from their garden, and headed south on Rte. 1. We will be back later in September for the Common Ground Fair. For a while, I thought there was going to be a conflict around that weekend. The Keuka College class of 1971 was having a 50th reunion that weekend, and I was invited to attend as the class advisor, back  in 1967, but all that has been postponed because of the new wave of COVID cases due to the Delta variant, so I’m free to go to Maine.

On our way south, Ellen decided to stop in Arundel, ME, to go to an antique store she remembered from years ago. It’s still exists! So that’s where she is right now. I went in and looked around, and saw this booth made up entirely of postcards, all organized by category. But Ellen wasn’t tempted. They are too expensive, and it would take too long look through them. As I walked around, I saw several other booths made up almost entirely of postcards. So there are thousands of postcards here. And I saw flyers advertising postcard festivals, where there would be millions of postcards for sale. That’s what it said. So I guess Ellen is not alone in her love for postcards. But I think her interest is different from that of the people who would go to those festivals.

A booth of vintage postcards

Another little adventure

Last evening, we went out to eat at a dockside restaurant in Port Clyde, ME, which is where the most popular ferry to Monhegan Island is located. We put in our name and prepared for a bit of a wait before our name would be called for a table. There were picnic tables along the wharf where you could wait, and it was a lovely evening, so waiting was not a problem. I put my hiking poles down on the floor next to the railing, and wouldn't you know - one of them rolled off and fell into the water, about fifteen feet down - or more! It floated, thank goodness, but I helplessly watched as the tide carried it out. But I was not alone is seeing what had happened. A man standing nearby said, "I'll get my bathing suit and go in and get it!" "Oh, no, you don't have to do  that," I said, but he said. it would be no trouble. So he went to the car and got his bathing suit but by the time he had changed into it, the pole had gone under the next dock over. I thought it was sort of a lost cause, but he jumped in and got it! People watching above on the dock all applauded! I went down a gangplank and shook his hand and thanked him profusely. I learned that he was Scott Carpenter and summered in Liberty, ME. I offered to buy his dinner, but he assured me that that was not necessary - that he felt good doing a good deed, and that it had been a refreshing dip! So I let it go and thanked him again. It turned out that he and his wife were eating at the same place, and though they were seated long before we were (we waited well over an hour for a table), we ended up sitting near them, and said goodbye and wished them well as they left. A very nice man!

This is where it happened

Sunset during supper

Owl's Head Lighthouse

Today was the perfect day to visit the lighthouse - very clear and cool and breezy. I actually walked the 1/2 mile to the lighthouse and even climbed up the 53 steps! They were pretty shallow steps, so they were fairly easy on my knees. The gift shop was open and Ellen got quite a few postcards. So she was happy too. After the lighthouse we looked for a haddock sandwich somewhere, preferably outside on a pier,  but never found what we were looking for. We settled for a grilled cheese at the Bleeker and Greer Wrap Shack up in Rockport. The sandwich was ok but the Fox Family Potato Chips that came with it were excellent (made in Maine). 

Old lighthouse beacons in the Museum

The 53 steps!

Owl's Head Lighthouse, up close

An old postcard showing that in the old days, the stairs were enclosed

Island ferries seen from the lighthouse

Lovely Rosa Rugosa

Looking DOWN those 53 steps!

We wondered what this flower was and our Picture This plant identification app says it is Silverod - related, of course, to Goldenrod. 

This classic car was in the parking lot at Owl's Head light - with no identification on it whatsoever. 

We need a classic car identification app!

Good potato chips!

The Bleeker & Greer Wrap Shack

Traffic

You could make a life here at the cottage, if need be, just sitting and watching the traffic on the water. It is not constant, of course, but there is a fair amount. It wouldn’t be a bad life. The four below went by in a fifteen-minute period. I  can imagine worse lives. 

Plus, there is a Transportation Museum nearby that has a small airport, and every now and then a small, private plane flies over. Not enough to be annoying, just interesting. 

Later:

We're about to make a trek to Owl's Head's biggest attraction - the Owl's Head Lighthouse. It is very photogenic. Stay tuned!

A favorite feature

 One of the things I like most about this cottage is an old cast-iron trundle bed. I don’t spend much time on it. Ellen usually is lying here when she reads. But I just like the looks of it, and I like the way it’s positioned under the window. It’s sort of like a big window seat. Here it is:

Women of Vision

 As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Farnsworth Museum has an exhibit going on right now titled Women of Vision which honors women artists, art collectors and donors. I will try from time to time to pass along some of what I saw there. 

Molly Neptune Parker is a highly skilled basketmaker in the tradition of the Passamaquoddy tribes. She was born in 1939 in Indian Township, ME and died just last year. She made it a mission to pass on to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren both her skill in basketmaking in the traditional way using fine brown ash and woven sweetgrass,  and her knowledge of the Passamaquoddy language. She herself attended a two-room elementary school through eighth grade, completed high school in Princeton, ME and studied business at University of Maine, Orono, and then continued her education through various tribal certification programs. She helped organize a basketmaking cooperative at Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation, was a founding member of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, served on the Indian Township Tribal Council and was the first woman Lieutenant Governor of the Council. She received the First People's Funds Community Spirit Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship, an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bowdoin College in 2012 and a Distinguished Achievement Award from University of Maine, Machias, in 2013. "Her exquisite flower baskets have a delicacy of form yet powerfully carry forward a history blended from tribal culture, the natural world and their maker's foresight in giving new life to that which otherwise might have been lost."

Molly Neptune Parker weaving a basket with her grandson, Geo Neptune

Examples of Molly Neptune Parker's basketry

Another lovely day

 It is sunny and warm today but there is a nice breeze. Facing east as it does, the cottage gets the full sun in the morning. I tend to wake up early here both because of the sunrise and the diesel lobster boat traffic. Then the issue is - can I get back to sleep? The first night, I didn't get back to sleep at all. This morning I think I was able to doze a bit anyway. It's very nice here, but I think for sleeping, there's no place like home!

We have no plan for today,  just lazing around. We're not eager to go places in the car because the AC doesn't work in the car. I hope it isn't too hot when we go back on Friday. We'll have to get that attended to when we get back, for sure!

An interior view of the cottage from the bed

Almost full moon over the water

We just came down from Jim and Mary's after dark and were treated to the sight of the moon over the water as we walked down the drive to our cottage. We had had supper with Jim, Mary and Harry, Mary's nephew, who is visiting overnight. He has just finished up as a counselor in a teen camp in Maine and is heading to Duxbury, MA where his family lives, and is spending the night with Jim and Mary. We had a delicious meal of couscous with chicken, apricots and cashews, chard, and blueberry shortcake! And then we watched two episodes of Kim's Convenience, a Canadian TV series on Netflix about a Korean family that runs a convenience store in Toronto. It's funny, sentimental, good.  I used my poles as we walked down, and Ellen illuminated the path with the flashlight in the cell phone. But we stopped and turned off the light to admire the moon, which I believe was full last night.  

Moon over the water 

Where we are now

On the wall of our little cottage there is a map of coastal Maine and at the top someone has written, 'CAN YOU FIND WHERE YOU ARE NOW? Here is the map:

Here is a detail of our part of the coast - the Rockland/Owl's Head area:

                       

And here is where we are-at the point of the pen:

Here is what our cottage looks like:

And this is the view in front of the cottage - looking NE and then SW: 

Looking up toward Rockland Harbor - lobster boats come from this direction 

starting very early in the morning - about 4:30a.m.

Looking down toward South Thomaston

Change of venue

There have been some changes made here in Maine. Up until today we were staying with Jim and Mary in their guest room, cum Jim's art/music studio, on a fold-down Murphy bed. This afternoon we moved down into a cottage that was previously occupied by Katie, Savanna and Brendon, which is located right on the water. I am sitting on the bed, and out over my feet is a splendid view of the ocean! 

The view at the foot of the bed - pretty nice!

But before all that happened, we went into Rockland and met our friend. Phil McKean, at the Farnsworth Art Museum, one of our  favorites,  second only to the Hallie-Ford Museum in Salem, OR. Originally we were going to meet for lunch at Archer's on the Pier, a very nice restaurant in Rockland located at the end of a peninsula in Rockland Harbor. But we discovered that it is closed on Mondays. So we decided to meet at the Farnsworth, look at some art, and then be joined for lunch by Phil's daughter Susanna, who is visiting from London. That all worked out nicely. Perhaps one downside was that the museum was very crowded with people. I have never been in the Farnsworth when it was so crowded. Fortunately, the museum required all patrons to wear a mask. But still. So I restricted myself to one gallery, which had a very interesting exhibit titled Women of Vision, which featured women artists as well as women photographers, collectors of art and donors of art. After absorbing that exhibit I went into the Library, looked at a very interesting book about the Farnsworth Museum itself and it's original donor, Lucy Farnsworth,  and then joined with Phil, Susanna and Ellen at a picnic table outside the Museum in a sculpture garden  where Phil had brought a take-out lunch from the Atlantic Baking Company, right across the street from the Farnsworth. He had taken orders earlier, and everything was delicious. That provided a perfect place to visit, and the rain held off for quite a while but finally came. But that was after we had all finished eating and had had a long visit. So we said our goodbyes and Phil and Susanna went back into the museum (Susanna hadn't been inside yet) and Ellen and I went to Hannaford Super Market to shop for our stay in the cottage and then came back out to Jim and Mary's, picked up our stuff (which we had packed up before leaving for lunch) and came down to the cottage. Which is where I am now.

The garden where we had our picnic lunch

Phil and Susanna

I took a lot of photos at the Farnsworth, so be on the lookout for a blogpost about that! Here's a little foretaste:

A wood and paper collage, Volcanic Magic XVI (1985) by Louise Nevelson (1899-1988)

The Women of Vision exhibit included Louise Nevelson, whom the Farnsworth has long featured as a local artist: Nevelson (then Leah Berliawsky) moved from Ukraine to Rockland with her family in 1905 and attended high school in Rockland before marrying Bernard Nevelson and moving to New York City. She went on to become one of the most highly regarded artists of the 20th century. The Farnsworth houses "one of the most significant collections of her work in the world."

Later:

We just had supper (Annie's Mac and Cheese with fresh beets from Mary's garden) and then I plugged into the Dummerston Church Zoom meeting that happens every Monday evening. They only got about 2 inches of rain there in Dummerston, and no power outages, so Henri wasn't too bad as it turned out. 

Not much happening yet

Despite dire predictions there isn't much happening here storm-wise as yet. Most of the crew here has gone off to Camden, ME, about a 30-45 minute drive, to give Brendon a chance to check out a huge antique store. Mary and I stayed behind - she had things she wanted to get done and I could have gone but I'm not that happy standing around in stores, so decided to stay here. I just went down to the cottage to see what the surf looks like - just a normal high tide. Breezy, but no waves. There will be a high tide at midnight tonight and maybe by then there will be some waves. 

Earlier I took all the meat out of the lobster I brought home last evening from Claws and made a roll with a piece of bread. Instead of using mayo I poured melted butter over the lobster meat. It was pretty yummy. I just tried calling my friend, Phil McKean, who lives nearby, and his daughter, Susannah answered the phone! She normally is in London, so I wasn't expecting to hear her voice. She is visiting for a few weeks. She said her brother, Tom, will be coming on Saturday. Not sure if we'll still be here then or not. I may just miss him. He is my godson. But we'll get over and visit Phil and Susannah in Friendship, ME this week, I'm sure. 

I've been following the news on Hurricane Henri and it sounds like southern New England is really going to be clobbered. They were warning that people in Connecticut could be out of power for three weeks! That's serious. In Dummerston, the forecast is for "rain heavy at times," which is pretty much what the whole summer has been like. I didn't see anything about high winds or power-outages, but I guess you never know. I hope that not being at home during this storm will not prove to be a mistake. 

Well, it has just started to rain in earnest. So I guess the outer bands of Henri are reaching us. If we get heavy rain back in Dummerston, there could be flooding because the ground is pretty saturated. 

Two views of the shore in front of the cottage

Sunday morning

Things were a little ragged here this morning, as Sunday mornings go.  Jim and Mary did not "attend" church. Their church here in Rockland is in transition with a new pastor.  So Jim, Mary and Ellen were all working on the NY Times crossword puzzle during the church hour.  I went into the bedroom and plugged into part of the Guilford service on Zoom and heard Pastor Eliza preach on "bird-watching." Yes, she has made a sermon series on summer-time activities in the Bible! Mountain-climbing, boating, swimming, picnicking - all of which can be found in the Bible, and today, bird-watching. Turns out there are a lot of birds in the Bible, and bird omens have been very important in Elisa's life. So, as usual, it was interesting.

The choir rehearsing at Guilford this morning (recorded on Zoom)

 Back in Vermont they are preparing for Hurricane Henri, and the service was inside with a small choir singing with masks and no congregation. At 11:00a.m., I phoned into a Music Committee meeting at the Dummerston Church with Shawn, our pastor, Mary Westbrook-Geha, the organist, and Eliza Bergh, a choir member. The main issue was: should we try to have a choir, and the decision was, "not yet." With the Delta Variant, breakout infections of COVID among the vaccinated, etc., it was felt that one should err on the side of caution. We'll meet again Nov. 21st and re-assess. 

In Guilford, they were all talking about possible power-outages, but here in Maine, Henri is not expected to bring much more than some possible heavy rain. There is, however, a high surf advisory, which could be interesting at the cottage. Five to eight-foot waves! But that is probably for the open ocean. The cottage is on a protected cove. We have never been here in these conditions before,  so we don't really know how vulnerable the cottage is. I guess we'll find out! Katie, Savanna and Brendon will be in the cottage  until tomorrow. By the time we move in, I suspect things will have calmed down. But tonight could be interesting. It may even be interesting right now!

Mary has been working in the garden this morning. The garden is really beautiful this year. 

The garden at Jim and Mary's house

Seafood galore

We all went to the Claws restaurant in Rockland this evening for supper. It overlooks the harbor with outdoor dining. I ordered steamed clams and Katie ordered a boiled lobster, but when they brought our meals, they brought two boiled lobsters. We sent the second one back and said it wasn't ours, but the waitress brought it back again and said it was ours, it had been paid for and she needed to know what to do with it. I couldn't see letting a lobster go to waste, so I said I would take it, and I paid Katie for it.  So I ended up with steamed clams and a boiled lobster! I was able to eat the clams, and ate the tail meat of the lobster  and brought the rest home to eat tomorrow. It was good - I hadn't had a boiled lobster for ages - but I felt pretty stuffed! Afterward, we came home and watched the Red Sox for a while and then played Scrabble. That is, Mary, Ellen, Savanna and I played Scrabble and Jim and Katie watched the Red Sox. I guess I would have won, but I was left with a "z" in my hand when Ellen went out, which had to be subtracted (10 points!) from me and added to Ellen, so I came in last. We were all bunched together that closely. I was ready to play the "z" on a Triple Letter square just before Ellen went out, but Savanna played a word next to it just before me and that took away that opportunity. Oh well!

Otherwise it was a pretty quiet day. 

At the Claws restaurant 

We are in Maine

We drove over to Jim and Mary's place in Owl's Head today. Katie and Savanna are also staying in the cottage nearby. So we all had supper together this evening, which Ellen had prepared and brought with us. Our trip was difficult. First of all, the car's air conditioner no longer works. And it was pretty hot and very humid today. So Ellen suffered a lot. Then, it was Friday afternoon, and the traffic going up into Maine was tremendous. On top of that, there was an accident in New Hampshire which blocked traffic for miles. So we had a lot of delays, and we were hot. But we also were able to stop at a Carter's children's clothing store in Kittery, ME at the Mall and got gifts for the two new baby boys in our neighborhood that were born in June/July. We had been wanting to do that for some time but there is no longer a children's clothing store in Brattleboro. We got some cute things!

We are thinking of staying for about a week, but we're going to keep our eye on the weather.

Visiting after supper at Jim and Mary's place

Cynthia's photos

John and Cynthia are on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. They seem to be enjoying being there very much - but time is slipping away and they only have a few days left. Cynthia has uploaded several photos she has taken into Google Drive: let me share some of them. They are strikingly beautiful. 

John in his kayak - he confirmed that!

Cooking a meal on the cliff edge at the campground (fishing weir visible in background)

The fishing fleet at dusk

Weathered building - I love this picture!

Fishing weir

Heading for the airport with Katie - taken a week ago Tuesday

In John and Cynthia's living room last week - on the couch are several versions of "Clover" -

a puppet Cynthia uses in her library videos. The kids love Clover.