WE LOOK ONCE MORE AT SIXTY-FOUR
It happened again! In spite of all good resolutions to the contrary, the annual newsletter didn't get written until well into December. Even though the year is pretty well along by December 1, the spirit of procrastination dies hard... It's so darned easy to put things off a few days at a time. Ideally, any annual effort should be written as of December 31st, and dreamed up some six weeks in advance by liberal use of a crystal ball. Then the printer and the mailman would have plenty of time to do their respective parts well before Xmas. But crystal balls seem to be of plastic these days, and give confusing results. So the literary dilemma of covering a year a bit early is still with us.
What was the year like for us? Well, as you might guess, Les got in a lot of travel, covering quite an assortment of geography. It started in February, with a return to Venezuela, where he spent a month. En route, he stopped over in Mexico City, and was greatly impressed by that bustling metropolis. Venezuela was quiet compared with 1963. The political terrorism abated after the December elections, and so he was able to get in some interesting side trips on weekends. One was to Mérida, high in the Andes, where he rode the highest teleférico in the world, reaching up to over 15,000 feet. It was a scenic marvel. On another trip he got deep into the Motilone Indian country on the west side of Lake Maracaibo.
The next trip was by car in April. Sis came down from Buffalo for Fiesta Week so, to start things off, we three drove down into Mexico, swinging around through Saltillo and Monterrey. Sis came back loaded with souvenirs! Fiesta is always a big occasion in San Antonio. Then followed another trip out to Stanford, attending a technical meeting. It was a busy, interesting week. For several months there were only a few trips around Texas, but late in July business took Les to Pittsburgh, Pa., and Niagara Falls, N. Y., so he was lucky enough to see all the improvements at the Falls and visit the folks in Buffalo. The honeymooners who never got to see Niagara Falls back in the days when it was a Mecca for newlyweds, would certainly be surprised today.
Back in 1959, Les attended a Foam Symposium up on Campobello Island, where he was a guest at the Roosevelt cottage. August took him there again, but this time the cottage bad been turned into a national monument. Those at the meeting all commuted from the Maine shore, using a new International bridge. This particular trip was highlighted by hours of tired, aching feet - the result of weekends en route spent at the World's Fair. The Fair is a tremendous spectacle, and well worth while, but it sure is a physical challenge. There's so much to see, and usually so little time to do it in.
About this time, our Kansas City tenants decided to move to a larger house. The place was quickly re-rented, but it was obvious that some long-deferred maintenance should be done at moving time. So, just before Labor Day, Ed and Les drove up with a car full of tools, plus 3 kittens to deliver in KC. That was a week of nightmare. It involved carpentry, electrical work, masonry - even putting in a new steam boiler. The two labored from early morning until late at night, fell into bed exhausted, only to repeat the pattern the next day. When they got back to San Antone, it was all like a bad dream. But just the same, they'd worked miracles in fixing up the house.
There was another quick trip up to Pittsburgh in October. Quick means on short notice, for often these days air travel is anything but quick. You spend hour after hour in air terminals waiting in frustration for a relatively few minutes aboard a plane en route. Ham radio has kept Les pleasantly distracted during the times when he wasn't off on a trip. A big vertical antenna sprouted in the back yard and a beam was stuck on the roof peak. It didn't stay where it was meant to. One morning when Les was in Venezuela a guy wire parted and the beam collapsed with a mighty thud that shook the house giving the banana plants a new kind of fruit. Now it's leaning at the side of the house, secure, but not as high. The short wave rig was rebuilt into an impressive console during the year and WA5GOQ extended its coverage down to 6 meters. The next move. to 2 meters, is in progress now. Les is usually tinkering with equipment and it keeps him too busy to spend much time rag chewing.
The scholastic life seems to be agreeing with Ed, and make no mistake about it. he has been on the educational treadmill pretty steadily for some time. The grind at Texas A&M is not for weaklings and Ed, recognizing this, went to summer school again. Ed has changed a lot since his freshman year at Missouri Valley and his sophomore year at Drury. He has grown taller and put on weight and muscle, his grades are quite respectable, and he's working hard to make himself into an engineer. His mechanical skills really helped on the Kansas City trip in August, and the technical training now in progress shows up in his electronic tinkering. Every so often he blows in for a week end from College Station, dividing his home time between extra sleep and long telephone conversations. The remaining hours he's out on dates.
Dan is a busy beaver. He played all year in the Jeff Band that won high honors in all areas and marched in the Fiesta Parade. He got an award for perfect attendance all year. He took a course in Computer Language and Programming at St. Mary's and one in Radio and TV
announcing at WOAI. Like all boys, Dan likes to drive. He won a local contest in skillful driving, then went to Dallas as SA representative in the Road-eo. He had a course at San Antonio Little Theater, and subsequently the part of Mr. Darling in "Peter Pan. " Dan did a lot of backstage work too, just to round out his experience . Dan's College Board scores were fine and got him a small scholarship at Texas A&I where he is a math major, with banking in mind for his future. He worked hard in politics down in Kingsville, and also pledged Alpha
Phi Omega. For graduation he had a trip back to KC to see his class at Pem Day and visit his friends. He gets taller all the time and as you see, the rest of us look like midgets of some kind.
Our absent member, Larry, is now Sp/4 and is doing a fine job as clerk in the medical warehouse, 4th Field Hospital, Fort Dix. He has a lot of responsibility and from all we hear is well regarded. He reports he has grown taller too - and promises a visit to San Antone some time this spring. Larry gets out next November and will return to Missouri to work on his degree. He still hopes to go on with his long time dream - go to Seminary, then wind up as an Air Force Chaplain. Larry writes often, and so we keep well posted on his activities.
Polly leads a new life with no boys to fuss over and she is finding it hard to get used to. She misses her Kansas City activities. Here she has a little teaching, some accompanying, and trips to the airport to carry and fetch Les. This leaves time on her hands, so she has resumed her membership in AAUW, and has group meetings in several fields. She has done some work back stage at San Antonio Little Theater and hopes to enter the Remedial Reading field,
As for the four-legged department, Peter is no more. Pneumonia and old age brought her down. For months Zeke was the lone cat. His tree climbing now has changed to roof explorations, followed by demands for a ladder to come down. In midsummer, a pellet gun put what looked like a battered rivet almost through him. He pulled through but minus many of his nine lives. Now he lets himself go around comparatively dirty and bedraggled. Zeke loves to ride around the house on Les' shoulder. He doesn't ask - just hops up. When a neighbor left for Turkey, we inherited a white cat with five very young kittens. After getting them on their wobbly feet, and Ed. Mamma, who answers to "Kit" stayed on as our star boarder. She bosses Zeke, smacks Pixie, attacks ankles, demands food at all hours, and has learned that humans are to be loved. She and Zeke are still jealous of one another, but it is lessening. Kit is a talkative feline, round and fat, and getting to be a beautiful animal. She's the one Dan is holding.
One other miscellaneous item. The Egglestons now have an official egghead, having qualified one of the five as a member of MENSA, that high IQ society. Now the other four are wondering which of them can also qualify. MENSA is like Mount Everest. There's no real point in joining the one or climbing the other. But it's there. And maybe it helps us prove a point to ourselves.
Our best wishes to all of you from San Antonio
THE EGGLESTONS
