A (unfinished) Letter to the Family

 4 Nov, 1980

Hi, Cherie and Kids:

     Another form letter to bring you up to date on what this maverick's been doing, and how healthy he is at present. I was making great strides toward my normally good health, walking about three miles at a stretch, occasionally, without strain. Then I decided to try the Mesa Trail here, which runs generally along, or among, the Flatirons, those great sandstone slabs, standing on end, which are quite well named. It is a mountain trail, of course, with a fair degree of steepness in many spots, and some large steps of stone, which required a lot of assistance from my shoulder and back muscles, along with a cane, to surmount them. My nephew Jack (Lucile's son) has really been a great help to my moral and health. He sponsored me as a Shaklee dealer, which is company is probably the leader in good vitamin and mineral supplements, so I've had really good nutrition. Then his upbeat, determinedly optimistic personality has helped me to toughen up, and fight my ailments, instead of meekly accepting them, and thereby getting progressively more disabled. The lack of a paycheck for ages (it seems like from another life; it has been about five months) has been somewhat of nuisance, also. I should get my first check from Social Security this month sometime, for Disability.

     The weather has been quite mild, this week it has been up to 70° F., or higher, most days. Getting windy now, though, and about time for a heavy snow. Jack (nephew) says he can fly me to I. F. The church we go to said they can come up with money for the plane fare. Can somebody pick us up at the I. F. airport? And maybe check the Shelley motels, to see if there will be openings? You'll all be impressed with Jack; he's quite a guy.

     You know, if I can handle all the pain I've had, and still having, and come out of this in a good shape, I'll consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life. And the feeling of being imprisoned, in a weak, ailing body. Maybe you can give me a call, preferably about 8:30 or 9:00 pm, let me know how things are. I'm not sure just when we can make it. I'd like to stay about three days, to make sure the kids know how to take care of the guns, and will handle them safely. And to get enough memories of you all, to carry me through another year. I'm not sure where I'll be, or what I'll be doing, after I get back in shape. 

     Fran and I have gone to Transactional Analysis groups to get in touch with our inner problems and desires, and we've found there is quite a difference in our life styles, so we might have to get a friendly divorce, to give each other the chance to attain our personal goals.

     I'm not sure yet what my goals will be; I've been concentrating more on regaining good, physical condition; I can't do much till I do. Jack and I might go into business together; he's doing quite well with Shaklee; it would be handy, to have a few hundred a month coming in from that.

Newsletter-From Virginia ,1969

Broad Run, Virginia
4 Jan, 1969

Howdy,

We have a crowded schedule, as usual, so will try to write four letters at a time; perhaps that way we can write to all our friends.

The job is interesting; it is nice to get paid for doing what I used to do for fun. We are making a complete inventory of the natural areas of the U.S. and its trust territories, and helping to establish criteria for a "natural area" which we hope will be acceptable to all ecologists. We are also making a list of the research which has been, and is being done on natural areas. We will establish a system for storage and retrieval of data, sometime soon.

I have a very good boss; Gene Wallen, a real go-getter, with a background in oceanography. The other scientists in the department are first raters, also; Helmut Buechner, Lee Talbot, Ray Fosberg, to name some. Lee Talbot is now in India, working on the Gir Forest, and in Ceylon afterwards. I get out in the field often, and really admire these hardwood forests. There are quite a few species of oaks, and red maple and and pignut hickory are common. There are also several species of pine, including the Table Mountain Pine, which is not very widely distributed. It was interesting to see witch hazel blooming this fall, and interesting to see the many species of ferns. We flush wild turkey occasionally, and bob white quail, white tail deer, cottontails, and gray squirrels are common. the mockingbirds, cardinals, bluejays, and titmice stay here all winter.

We're very close to apple orchard country, as well as peach and apricot country. Christmas trees aren't so plentiful as they are in the Gallatin Valley.

Most gardeners here try to get their potatoes planted by March 17, and the rest of the garden correspondingly early. There isn't much of a selection in the supermarkets now.

We had two measurable snowfalls so far; the first was a few inches, and melted soon. The second measured about 12 inches, and then a 40 miles an hour wind blew for 2 or 3 days. It seemed ironical to be more solidly snowbound in Virginia than we ever were in any of the Rocky Mountain States. We only have one drift between us and the county road, but it is about 200 yards long, and two to five feet deep. So we borrowed a microbus, and are driving out through the field. After the plentiful fall rains, I would say that the ground water supply should have been restored; last fall many springs went dry here, and there was a very poor crop of acorns, and the black walnuts were quite small, many of them unfilled.

I didn't do any hunting this fall, and we miss the supply of venison which we normally have. However, I have made friends with a lot of good hunters, so I will probably hunt next year. I intend to use the bow for deer; I should be able to get a turkey, also.

We had a husky Kirby-style 7 lb. 6 oz. boy; that completes the team. He weights about 14 now, at almost 3 months. The other kids are doing well. Kandy is in 2nd grade, and Jamie in 1st. The schools are totally integrated, and I guess they both have colored teachers. The schools do seem rather hillbillyish, so I don't mind keeping them out of school to take them to museums and the zoo, and other interesting places. This country is about like living in a history book, with so many battles having been fought nearby, and so many important people having been born here.

I'll close here, and wish you the best.

Vaya con Dios,

Louis
Director, Center for the Study of Natural Areas

A Christmas Letter to Rose and Doug (her husband)

Bozeman, MT
1964

Hi, Rose and Doug,

You certainly picked the right present for Cherie and me-our old alarm clock was about shot-we never knew if it was right or wrong. And your card was the most charming of all we received-in fact, about the most Christmasy we've seen.

We had an enjoyable Christmas, watching Kandy and Jamie with their toys. Kandy went to bed with the little doll with the hurt feelings that you sent. Of course, Cherie let the kids eat cookies and candy instead of food, so Kandy was sick all night. We all have to learn the hard way to say "no".

We had some of that terrifically cold weather here-it was 30 degrees below one morning, but the spell lasted only a few days.

We were marooned in a blizzard for several hours, in Idaho. I had visions of us all perishing. We weren't too well prepared, as far as clothing is concerned, but, fortunately, snowplows were on the job and we made it, but it took almost 11 1/2 hours to travel 218 miles. I was relieved and happy to get home, but happy to have had the experience. That was quite a feeling, to have sleet pelting me in the face so I could hardly see, and be driving through drifts, never being sure just when I'd get stuck.

I wish you could enjoy snow and cold weather as much as I and Kandy. She's getting independent-goes out and entertains herself occasionally-also tends to travel afield, which is sort of worrying.

We had mostly bare ground, but two days before Christmas it snowed several inches.

The house trailer's crowded, but little by little we are organizing and reoganizing, for more efficiency, and it is livable, now. If we are lucky, we can buy some land next year (if I find some way to ake money), and build a log structure enclosing the trailer, with room for tools, books, car and goats. I'm a dreamer, I guess.

Doug, do you think it would pay to put a straight shift in a '50 Dynaflow v8 Buick Super? It's a pretty rugged old car, but the automatic transmission gets stiff and hard to start on cold mornings. It also is hard to start when the motor is hot, sometimes, choking itself out. What do you think causes it? If we were closer, I'd liketo hire you to work over both these vehicles (my Dodge '56 pickup, too).

I hope you are both well and happy-we're so darned busy we don't have a chance to notice whether we're happy or not, so we must be.

Hope to see you somehow this year.

Love, Lou, Cherie, Kandy, and Jamie

Another Letter to Sister Rose

Dec. 28

Hi, Rose,

Thanks for the radio, and the toys for the kids. They should have enough now, so we won't have to buy them any more till they're teenagers.

It was fun to hear your voice-as Cherie said, if you want to get away from there, we should be able to send you the money. I'm sure the weather wouldn't be any worse here than there, and most likely better.

Our winter camp was fun, and educational. Wasn't very cold, but I guess that's all right for this time. We saw lots of deer, and some snowshoes (rabbits).

I have to go to school and see if I have any important papers or letters. I don't know if I'll get to go duck and goose hunting, as I wanted to, but maybe I'll survive until an elk-hunting or fishing expedition comes up.

We've been doing some wiring, shelf-building, and painting. We need an electric dryer in this country, and we needed some more receptacles, too.

So long for now,

Love,

Lou

A Letter to Lib (Sister) and Bill (Brother-in-Law)

Shelley, ID

July 25, 1971

Dear Lib and Bill,

Here goes another form letter, to let us write to everyone we wish. We had a long 7-day trip, and had to shift to low, and travel 5 to 10 miles in hour in some places, but we just had one flat, and made it reasonably well. The weather wasn't too bad; a little hot in Arkansas and Oklahoma, in the dreary parts where you don't see much except highways, traffic, and lots of people. You don't see much except highways, traffic, and lots of people. Then when you add the 30% higher prices on groceries in every state except Idaho, and some parts of Montana, it makes one even happier to get home. Northwestern Arkansas was nice, and parts of Nebraska were interesting, and they do have good parks in parts of Kansas and Nebraska. The blaze-orange butterfly-milkweed, and the elderberries and black-eyed Susans were common most of the way, and there was enough variety in the plants and crops and birds so it wasn't too much drudgery.

Kirby spent quite a bit of time up in the cab with me, naming the different birds and animals we saw, and we played an occasional game. Jody was a pest, of course, like all kids of that age, I guess, and Cherie had to stay in the camper with him most of the time. We left Kirby at one station and had to turn around, then wait till the station owner caught up with us (He had taken him in a car to catch us and we had just missed each other.

I sure don't want to make another trip like that. Twice across the country with a big overloaded trailer and camper is rough on my nerves. We moved into Cherie's old home for a while, and I am now looking for a job. Most teaching positions are filled of course, but there is one in Council, which looks like it could be a really nice one.

Then there are some state jobs, such as environmentalist, chemist, or microbiologist, which I might land if I have patience enough, and if we can find something else to keep the pot boiling till they open up (Like learning new edible weeds, and new places to find them.). I'm writing some articles, and getting my books and magazines straightened up and organized so I can find things at least occasionally.

We have two pickup loads of books, jars, sports equipment, clothes, etc., stored at Bozeman; we picked up one load and have to go back after the other. In the meantime, on that trip, maybe I can get some good fishing in Yellowstone Park. Then we have to try to get a few bushels of those prime mushrooms in Yellowstone, and go to a friend's orchard at Shoup to get fruit, if he has some unsprayed. In the meantime I'm laying a little linoleum, meeting organic gardeners, and others who are interested in preventing pollution and maintaining good health.

Out here there are drug problems, and teenage pregnancies, and other problems, as one would expect, since people are pretty much the same all over the world, and since our communication systems help the people in one place to know what every other place is like, so the resulting conformity makes on place in the U.S. much like other places, except for climate and degree of pollution. The mayor of Idaho Falls doesn't like to make any voters mad, so the only reason there isn't lots more pollution here is that there aren't so many people or factories.

I guess I'll manage, and start buying a linoleum shop, and we hope to buy a house soon. And herbs or flower seeds you want to part with? The aloe vera is still withus; how much sun do they need? How high do they get? Come out and visit; we'll try to line up some good fishing, or whatever you want. Would love to see you both again, to talk for a while. I want to organize an organic gardener's club and buyer's coop, soon as possible.

Love,

Louis and Cherie