Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 2):
This is Part 2 of the letter postmarked November 30, covering Friday, November 24, 1967.
Friday we took David Wayne across the Golden Gate Bridge. He immediately said it was a giant dinosaur, with its feet tied to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. All day we just drove around the coast, stopping at places that looked interesting (Muir Woods for one). That night we ate at Fisherman's Wharf and I got my first lobster. I loved it and David Wayne ate his scallops until I thought he would bust. Then we walked around the wharf, watching them boil oysters and crabs in big pots on the sidewalk. All of us enjoyed the day.
[I'm glad the trip to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco turned out better than the trip to Fisherman's Wharf in Los Angeles.]
[Muir Woods National Monument, a little north of San Francisco, is a redwood forest, with most trees there between 500 and 800 years old per Wikipedia. Mom doesn't mention it here, but I did get a bank from Muir Woods. Here are some pictures with the obligatory quarter for scale and some bonus dust.]
[This bank is made out of wood. I doubt it's made out of redwood, but I'm no expert on species of wood. There are small labels on the top and the front that say "Muir Woods Calif." A small deer is glued to the top of it, with eyes that are not unlike the eyes often seen on depictions of aliens. The large label on the front that looks like a scroll has this clever poem:]
I'm just a little deer
But I'll someday cure your woe
If in this slot upon the top
You'll drop some of your "doe"
[I think I got another bank during this trip to San Francisco, which I no longer have. This one, which was from Fisherman's Wharf, wasn't really a bank per se but it was a large shell (perhaps a real one) with a colorful ceramic fish glued to the front. I think I eventually threw that one away after too many pieces broke off of it.]
[The photo album contains two pictures of me from our drive along the coast. (And one picture of a gopher we watched dig a hole.) The gopher head is very difficult see in his picture, so I won't bore you with that one even though my shoes are in the picture. But I will bore you with both pictures of me since there is some military history to be learned.]
[Mom's caption on the first picture is "These holes looked like some kind of defense around coast." You can see that I'm standing on some sort of concrete structure, and to my left there is a square metal frame around a large hole. It looks like the metal frame likely supported a door at some point. You will also note that I'm wearing my mouse shoes (huaraches) as well as a shirt and a pair of pants that fit.]
[Mom's caption on the second picture is "Taken on top of cliff at San Francisco." In this picture I appear to be standing on a large pile of dirt or a large boulder. The expression on my face, combined with my body language, indicates I was concerned about my ability to safety get down from my current position and I was in the process of stating my case to my parents that I needed some assistance. Either that, or I didn't want to get my new clothes dirty, which seems unlikely for a five-year-old boy.]
[In the second photo, if you look to my left, over the boulder, you can see three concrete structures that have curved tops.]
[I believe I was standing on top of one of those (or one just like them) in the previous photo. I did a little googling, starting with a phrase that was something like "California coastline defense," and determined that these are observation bunkers built during World War II so military personnel could be on the lookout for attacks coming from the Pacific Ocean. Here is the link to a 2009 article from The San Diego Union-Tribune about some of these bunkers along the coast, very close to the US border with Mexico: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-border-bunker-battle-2009aug25-htmlstory.html. I also found a closeup photo of one of these bunkers at Muir Beach (near San Francisco) at this link: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/california-san-francisco-muir-beach-u-s-high-res-stock-photography/145094775. So we learned two things here: Mom's caption on the first photo was correct, and the premise of the movie "1941" had some basis in reality.]
[That's a wrap on day two of our Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco. I wonder what kind of adventures we'll have on Saturday?]
Letter postmarked (and dated) October 30, 1967:
The CCZCC takes the first step toward a potential new record. It now stands at 1.
Unlike all the previous letters, which were written in ink on letter-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), this letter was written in pencil on some 8.5" x 5.5" stationary.
Dear Mother and Mike,
I got tired of writing in pen so that's why this is in pencil. I really don't have much to tell you today.
[Pen vs. pencil mystery is solved. We still don't know why there was a sudden change in paper size, though.]
We stayed at home Saturday much to my disgust. I guess Dave was just tired. Also, it could have been that we didn't have much money. Since I've been doing the Christmas shopping, Dave's been giving me extra money.
[Let's hope this potential money issue doesn't impact MY Christmas too much.]
Sunday I talked Dave into taking me to Fisherman's Wharf - believe me we should have stayed at home. It was dirty, it stunk like dead fish, and there were only low, low class of people there. We didn't tarry there long. We did take a boat ride out in the ocean which was nice.
[I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!]
[I don't look too thrilled about it, though. I don't know if I'm getting seasick or giving Dad a death stare for some reason.]
We also went in one store and bought David Wayne a starfish and a turtle bank.
[I had that starfish for many many years in my room. It was yellowish-brown, with about a six inch wingspan. I don't think I have it now, and I'm not sure if it even survived the Great Purge when I moved out of the house to go to college. But I do still have the turtle bank. Here are two pictures of it, both with the obligatory quarter for scale. This one is glazed ceramic, with no chips or cracks that I can find. There is nothing identifying it as coming from Fisherman's Wharf, but there is a bit of adhesive on one side that looks like a sticker or label may have been there at one time.]
[That second photo is not from the top. Mr. Turtle is actually doing a three-point stand while balancing a quarter on his head. Impressive, eh?]
We saw two hippie couples on motorcycles cut in front of this man and get a parking place he was trying for. Naturally, it made the man mad and he said something to them. They walked over to their vehicles, took the tire chains off and started following the man and his family (including four little kids). I don't know what the outcome was, but I hope the people got away. It just made me and Dave sick and we got out of there quickly!
[That is another story Mom often told about our time in Los Angeles, and that's pretty much how she told it, too. Mom and Dad were really scared when they saw that. Thankfully I don't have any memory of it.]
The Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco is a delightful place and I never dreamed that this one would not be just as good. Oh, I wish we were home - safe and far away from all these kooks!
[Culture shock has not worn off yet. I don't know how Mom knew about Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco since she hasn't mentioned it in any letters so far. There are some pictures in the photo album that specifically say they were from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, so maybe that will be mentioned in an upcoming letter.]
Halloween is tomorrow night and David Wayne is beside himself with excitement. I'm only going to take him trick or treating at a few apartments in this building. (I even asked these people if it would be alright.) Then we are going to the Hansen's (people Dave works with) and the Sivell's. I hope it won't be a let-down to him, but I just don't feel safe going to strange doors in this town.
[Well that stinks. Don't be such a worry wart, Mom. I neeeeeeed candy!]
It wouldn't be any better in Carrollton though. Patsy wrote me that people there had been warned to keep the kiddies home because some people were giving candy with LSD on it to kids. David Wayne cried when I told him Roger and Steve couldn't go out on Halloween. I had to promise him that next year if it happened, we would just have a party for the neighbors.
[Oh, good grief. It's amazing the scare stories about tainted Halloween candy that go around almost every year. When I was growing up it was razor blades in apples. I read an article years ago about a group that actually searched newspaper articles over many decades for stories about Halloween candy that was intentionally modified to harm children, and they pretty much came up empty. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."]
We got that big turtle Friday night. We (David Wayne, that is) named him Mickey Mud Turtle. I went to Farmer's Market on Friday and at a pet shop I bought a big fish bowl to keep the turtle in. Snappy stays out of his shell all the time and he loves for us to talk to him. This new turtle isn't very friendly yet - in fact he spits at us if we get close to him. I'm not too fond of it, but the boys love it. From the reptile book you bought we found out it is a slider.
[Well heck yeah, who wouldn't like to have a big spitting turtle to play with?]
I bought Tracey a cute little Indian dress at Farmer's Market. All the shopping I need to do now is Wayne, Judy, and the Jennings. I got a beautiful glass piano for Aunt Osie and a set of glass swans for Aunt Mary. I wish I could go ahead and get all these things mailed.
[Aunt Osie and Aunt Mary were Dad's aunts.]
Dave is on a diet and has lost some weight - not enough, he still looks pregnant. I still haven't felt the baby moving and the doctor says I should - that has me worried. Other than that, I feel great.
Well, I said news was short and it is. Write soon.
Love,
Linda
P. S. - I bought David Wayne a Batmobile that shoots rockets. It is the same size as the matchbox cars and I imagine it will be a big hit on Christmas!
[A Batmobile that shoots rockets? This is going to be the best Christmas ever!]
