Dear Friends,
We’ve done it again. Once more, time has gotten away from us and the Holiday Season is here. Last year we received little criticism from you about our writing efforts. Perhaps you were being kind in the true spirit of the Time. We were impressed by the number who were so organized and so thoughtful to answer us. Although we seem to lack the organization to reply in kind, our warmest thoughts and hopes are offered to you.
We have done a number of other things again. As you can see from the address, we have moved from our large home to a more manageable one. We do not recommend trying to heat an eight room house with an oil furnace that has been converted from one that originally burned saw-dust. (Saw-dust furnaces are not uncommon in this part of the wooded U.S.) Since Debbie is now in kindergarten, we wanted a place close to a school. With all of our moving, we have yet to put up our Christmas tree in the same place as the year before.
Nor have we stopped yet. Pat has accepted a new position as a Grants Associate with the National Institutes of Health. We hope to move to Bethesda, Maryland (just outside of Washington, D.C.) in the middle of June. Although the move will take Pat out of active research and teaching and put him in the middle of administration, he is looking forward to the change. However, a second cross-country move is disconcerting. Right now the plan is for Karen and the kids to fly to Ohio. The third Camerino should arrive in Corvallis before then – but not much before. Perhaps the addition of an Oregonian to our New York – New Hampshire clan will give us an incentive to settle down.
The present family is continuing as usual. Karen is still singing Madrigals and whatever else comes along. Debbie is involved in kindergarten projects and withstanding the teasing of her young brother. This appears to be one of Ken’s major pastimes. Another is singing – in his own language since he seems to feel his words are every bit as good as ours. Karen’s singing did produce one unusual result. Pat was driving her and some others to Portland when the motor compartment of the microbus caught fire. We got out and watched it burn on the express-way until the fire department came. We are now driving a Chevy II station wagon. This did hinder our proposed second honeymoon trip to a resort on the Oregon coast. Although we never did get to the resort, we have gone camping at various parks along the coast. Camping is one of the things we will miss about Oregon; that and the Spring flowers. (We won’t miss the Apr., Mar., Nov., Oct., etc. rains that bring them – unless the East has another dry summer.
But our return will hopefully provide us with an opportunity to see some of you again. We hope that you have had a happy and rewarding year. We wish you an abundance of joy and prosperity in the coming months.
