A CHRISTMAS CHRONICLE FOR 1971
Thirty years have rolled by since the picture on the inside fold started off this series of do-it-yourself cards. It wasn't originally intended to begin a tradition, but time bas pretty much done that anyhow. Right now, being fundamentally lazy, I can't help think how easy it would be to go down to the friendly neighborhood stationer, come home with a stack of beautiful cards, and just mail them out. But then the mails start bringing in cards from all over, many with personal notes enclosed, inspired by this annual news missive. It leaves me no choice. I turn to the typewriter, wham away like mad, and, after much perspiration, am finally ready to get an assist from the printer. It's a big job, and once it's finished, I'm proud of it. The only problem is to scrape up enough energy to get started each year. Thirty years have been completed, but I don't think the series will last another thirty. Maybe we can stretch out the string for another 5 or 10 years. After that, I can afford to loaf the year around.
The year was a relatively uneventful one for Les. He finally finished the research on hyperbaric fire protection. Occasionally now he acts in a consultant role. The current contracts concern mostly the various aspects of fuel vapor releases and what can be done to reduce the hazard potential. As usual, this requires a lot of travel around various parts of the U.S. Art activities continued in high gear and several large acrylic paintings were finished. To improve his techniques, Les decided to enroll in a Life Drawing course. With two semesters completed, he has mixed emotions as to the results. Undoubtedly a little progress was made, but it convinced him that he had six left thumbs on each hand. After a normal days work, 3 hours of concentrated drawing standing up can leave you pretty well worn out. Right now the plan is to shift to a Clay Pottery and Sculpture course for the Spring Semester. Hopefully it shouldn't be much more difficult than glorified mud pie making. As was the case with painting, he'll probably wind up more clay on his clothes than the object being worked upon. At least though, Les had had a little preliminary practice as a mud dauber. During the summer, he took advantage of the local military base crafts shops and made quite a few ceramics pieces. Polly got in the act too, and with Les doing much of the dirty work, she wound up with a beautiful thirteen-piece Nativity set, plus lots of smaller things. Dan is now exhibiting the Nativity set at his school, complete with a creche whipped up out of scrap plywood. Thanks to retired USAF medical benefits, both of us got some body repair work done during the year.
Polly had had trouble with an aching leg for years, so finally she had a vein stripping operation that slowed her down for several months. That's not easy to do. She just has to be on the move. About the time she'd recovered, Les started some oral surgery to keep the dentists busy. That was a prolonged ordeal that meant little or no eating for a while. He lost 20 pounds, and there was a time when clothes draped on him like a scarecrow. It's a Spartan way to reduce the waistline and definitely not recommended to others. For some months, anybody who called him "Old Sorepuss" would have been telling the literal - and painful truth! At the doctor's command, Polly took it easy this year and let her leg heal up properly. Since she couldn't very well take any long trips in her customary gadding about the country, she decided to take some courses at the local junior college and learn how to play her cello properly. For years she'd fiddled away in community orchestras with a sort of hunt-and-peck method. It was a real struggle to change the old habits. At the same time, she started to learn to play a recorder. It sounds a lot like a peanut whistle with weird variations. For academic leaven, a course was added in Humanities. In her extracurricular activities, she sang in both choral groups. For some reason or other, Polly is always getting mixed up with organs. She was a substitute organist for 19 weeks early in the year, and now is playing the organ part in a performance of the Messiah at Randolph AFB close by here. Staying at home this year hasn't settled Polly down. She so enjoyed last year's trip to Europe that she actively plans to do it again in 1972, joining a local college group for a while as they tour Israel as part of a Bible History course. If all goes well and the devaluation of the dollar doesn't make it too expensive she hopes to be on her way as soon as her spring classes are over. Les will stay home; keep the home fires burning and the animals fed.
Larry has had a well scrambled college career. He returned to college in 1970 after many years in the Army, and this year got an unexpected business management education. The student co-op where he lived got into financial hot water, so Larry wound up a Treasurer. After a lot of hard-nosed work collecting bills, cutting expenses, and rehabilitating the house, he got the place back in the black ink side of the ledger, but it was a rugged experience. It's a shame he couldn't get course credit, for it taught him a lot about human nature and the value of a dollar. In what time he could spare he ran the stage lights for the Summer Repertory Theater, so it wasn't all work. Years ago Larry was a member of the Marching Mizzou Band. He is again and this was his fourth season. The football team, though, didn't do very well, with a sorry 1-10-0 record. The band, as always, was a winner but the gridiron boys never caught up. That took a lot of fun out of the games. We hear rumors that Larry goes to classes and passes courses with respectable grades. It must be so, since he says he officially qualifies as a senior in January 1972. Hopefully by the end of the year he'll finally get that coveted sheepskin. Address is Crest CoOp, 500 E. Rollins, Columbia, Missouri 65201.
Ed spent much of 1970 as a 1st Lt., Signal Corps, out in the boondocks at Korat, Thailand. In early 1971, the headquarters began to more into new quarters in Bangkok, so Ed got a good chance to see the big city. He liked Thailand and wanted to extend his tour, but with things being wound up in Southeast Asia, found himself headed back to the States in April. We enjoyed his tour in Thailand through the many beautiful things he mailed home. Once released from active duty, Ed came back to San Antonio for a while. Before long, it was time to head up to Washington, D. C. where he'd enrolled for an MS in Computer Management, starting in the Summer Session. Looking around for a Reserve assignment, he landed with an active group, and so had two weeks of duty at Ft. Belvoir between terms. Thus his military obligation helps pay the school expenses. Ed reports A's and B's in his courses so far, and has his schedule pretty well mapped out. By the end of the 1972 Summer Session he expects to be ready for the required comprehensive exam and the degree. Address is: 4725 Boiling Brook Parkway, Rockville, Maryland 20853
Dan, now teaching for his fourth year, is practically an old timer. In his third year at Davis, he expounds on Language Arts, Social Studies and Music to Sixth Graders. He even taught Art for a while on Saturday mornings! As usual, the summer was spent at Texas A&I working towards his MA degree. It's almost in sight now. Next summer should finish the job. As a pleasant sideline, Dan was in a production of West Side Story. Last year he spent a lot of time helping to chase and retrieve a 75-foot advertising hot air balloon. This year his persistence paid off. His first night came over Labor Day and with two more flights accomplished, he's had 3 1/2 hours of flight time. Les has been promised a flight, but so far it hasn't materialized. Dan's collection of high angle pictures of San Antonio from the air is growing rapidly. He takes a ribbing about doing well at teaching and ballooning because he's gotten to be a hot air expert. Dan gets over almost every Sunday so we manage to keep pretty well posted on his activities. Could it be he finds the cooking better at home? Address : 177 Bonair, San Antonio, Texas.
We started 1971 with Buffy, a blond cocker, Kit a white longhair cat, and Ming, a bluepoint Siamese. Life without them would have been dull. During the summer an orange colored waif turned up in a friend's back yard. Somehow or other, her tail had been almost cut off in an accident, and she was such a peculiar cat to say the least. But she was such a friendly little rascal that she was added to the domestic zoo. For obvious reasons, she had to be named Taffy...it suited her better than "yellow belly. " That made three cats in the house for Buffy to play with. In November, while the roof was being replaced as aftermath of a May hailstorm, Ming disappeared. The same afternoon we found her dead...apparently from poisoning, tho we'll never really know. The place she left just had to be filled, and now Ming II, a tiny Siamese kitten is hard at work as a replacement. How such a small animal can make so much noise and get into so much mischief is beyond all comprehension. They say a Siamese is half tiger and half monkey. Ming seems to be at least 75% monkey! Dan, too, got himself a kitten, a black bundle of energy named Natasha. When he comes to dinner Sundays. Natasha comes along. Kit thinks herself too dignified to romp about, but Taffy, Ming II, and Natasha have a ball. Four cats practically constitute a feline fiesta! It's a weekly cat race.
Well, that's it for 1971. Now I can relax from the duties of scribe, stretch out in my easy chair, and loaf until the passing of Thanksgiving and approach of Christmas 1972 puts me on the spot once again.
230 Montpelier Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78228
