In this letter (the fifth-to-last of this series of letters), the doctor says that the baby (spoiler: me!) could come along at any minute; but in fact, it took me over a month longer to show up.<\/p>\r\n
This letter was typed on another Transport A Child notecard, the same design as letter #32.<\/p>\r\n
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\r\n\r\n Tuesday, 27 February\r\n [handwritten: 1968]\r\n only 14 more days max.\r\n till your grandchild's\r\n birthday, I hope.\r\n\r\nHeoollo.\r\n\r\nWe have just xxx had two days of summer, glorious sun and\r\nwarm and delightful, don't even mind too much that today was\r\ndrizzly again. We had such a beautiful day at school--the\r\nkids were kind of glad to stay in after two days of pure\r\nsunshine. In the morning, we all wrote a story about flying\r\nsaucers---surprising amount of agreement as to what they\r\nlook like and how they function. Then everybody actually\r\nwillingly worked on academics for a while, and then we did a\r\nplay. Generally plays generate into chaos, as the kids get\r\nso involved in the costumes and motions that they forget to\r\nsay anything, but we solved that by telling a story and\r\npracticing what we'd say before we actually did it. This one\r\nwas the story of an old beggar walking along the road and\r\nfinding a caged tiger who pleads to be let out, promising\r\ngood behavior. So the beggar lets him out, and the tiger\r\nproceeds to pounce and be about to eat him. Various animals\r\ncome along the road to act as judge, all agreeing with tiger .\r\nThen along comes a sage, wo professes not to understand\r\nwhat has transpired, suggests they demonstrate original\r\npositions, so tiger gets back into cage, sage slams door,\r\nand everyone lives ever after....The play was a vast\r\nsuccess, repeat performance demanded by the actors, and even\r\nthe audience liked it.\r\n\r\nThen monthly check-up with dr., who, altho he doesn't\r\napprove of our wanting to have the baby at home, will not\r\nstand in the way, and xxxx does at least want to be sure all\r\nis well beforehand. We have still not firmly decided which\r\nwe will so, but going to the city for excellent hospital\r\ncare is out of the question; I refuse to spend two weeks\r\nsitting around [handwritten: in S.F.] waiting for\r\ncontractions to start, but he says it'll probably be a short\r\nlabor, as I'm in good shape and dilated already, so we won't\r\nhave any 12 hours to get down there once the contractions\r\nstart. We re-calculated and came up with March 12, but he\r\nsays it really could be any minute. Which is how it feels,\r\ntoo. We'll let you know as soon as he's out.\r\n\r\nWalnuts dipped in honey are a most excellent thing. We got\r\n60 pounds (5 gallons) of honey for $8 last week, good rich\r\ndark honey, retailing it to our friends and eating it just\r\nabout plain, it's so delicious. Spent last weekend cleaning\r\nand cutting up what is lovinging referrred to locally as\r\n\"one of them government goats\"--most delicious [handwritten:\r\nmammal] flesh I've ever eaten. i.e., a deer. Someone gave us\r\na whole bunch of venison (Peter had helped skin it) which we\r\ncut up and froze, and ate quite a bit of all at once. It was\r\nvery strange--we have been having fish (crab, that most\r\nheavenly crustacean, too, or mostly) as our source of animal\r\nprotein, and had eaten little or no meat for several months.\r\nThe venison made my teeth hurt, as I'm not used to that\r\ncarnivourous chewing, and made us both feel heavy and\r\nferocious and animalistic. And yet venison is better to eat\r\nthat the meat in stores, full of preservatives and\r\nantibiotics and hormones and tranquilizers, and generally\r\nwater as well. And so exquisitely delicious. Chopped deer\r\nliver, and braised and broiled and fried and stewed venison,\r\noh my, a benison.\r\n\r\nHope eye operation goes well. Let me know; also, I don't\r\nunderstand how you will do without x the lenses now, and\r\njust wear glasses--or did I miss something somewhere? As an\r\nexperiment, I've been doing without my lenses for nearly a\r\nweek, and my eyes sure are stronger and better. (even if my\r\ntyping isn't) Don't take the chance of driving without them,\r\nthough--but then, I can't fit behind the steering wheel and\r\nstill reach the pedals any more, so I just don't drive.\r\n\r\nFalling asleep, so goodnight, take care, best to all,\r\n\r\n love from\r\n\r\n [handwritten: Peter & Marcia & Little one\r\n (very little - I’ve\r\n only gained 13 lbs.)]\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Postmark: Feb 28, 1968, Mendocino, CA. Handwritten: “Rec\u2019d this 3\/1\/68.”<\/p>\r\n
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