St. Petersburg, Fla. Jan. 11, 1936 Dear Circle: Greetings from the sunny Southland! It may be winter in Iowa and Wis. but one does not realize it down here. The coldest winter the records show was this past Dec. when the temp. went down to 23o a few days and was around 32o several times. Now it is like the first cool days in Sept up north; one would better have a coat along but may not wear it in the middle of the day. All during Dec. our landlady was very generous with the steam heat and we were very comfortable. It hasn't been on this month, because it has been warm. Cal and I joined a shuffle board club near us and we almost had a turkish bath one day this week it was so warm, and that is not a very strenuous game either. We left Dale's on Dec. 2 and came down thro' Iowa to Keokuk, St. Louis, & crossed to Memphis, then across the state of Missippi to New Orleans and east to Tallahassee & south to St. Petersburg, and the farther south we go, the more we thought of the midwest. Wis. has some 7,000 lakes but Florida claims 30,000 and with the surrounding swamps, there isn't a great deal of arable land. What cows we saw on the way were of as various colors as Josephs coat and we were not surprised to find coffee cream for 20 cts for 1/2 pint & milk 17 cts per qt. Indeed we were surprised to find any local milk for we have not seen any field that could be honestly called a pasture. We saw nothing in the line of a FOOD crop until we got to Clearwater, Fla. where there were orange & grapefruit groves. Of course, the crop here is the TOURISTS and St. Pete is making as much as possible from them this year by doubling the rent. We pay $40.oo per mo for a two room apt with private bath & everything furnished but ice, and are very comfortable here, but our landlady would only rent it for one month hoping, by that time, there would be an influx of "winter dodgers" as they call us, who would would rent all of her apts for the "season", Jan to June. So we may have to move at the end of this week. We drove over the Gandy bridge to Tampa last week & on to Plant City (where they were loading carloads of strawb.) and Lakeland & Ft. Mead, and spent the night with Geo. Holden & wife there. Had a very nice visit with them. They came down to Fla. 21 years ago for George's health, and it has done wonders for him. He has been a rural mail carrier for 18 years & is to be retired on pension on Sept 1st having reached the age limit. We plan to go the center of the state for a time, probably to Lakeland & then go down to Miami & up the east coast on our way home next spring. We had Christmas dinner in our apt. & had our Madison friends Mr & Mrs Piper with us; also on New Years day. It did not seem at all like Christmas altho' the town was decorated nicely but being so mild in temp. made it seem unreal. Our children sent us cash for Christmas "to be spent just for our pleasure" and we have not yet decided how to use it. Shall it be a ride in the "Blimp" or a gulf trip to Cuba or some other unusual experience? We're having a nice time here and have met some pleasant people. The different states have regular meetings of their tourists and we have attended the Iowa & the Wis. meetings. They have a joint meeting soon. The Iowa group invited any one who had ever lived in Iowa. The greater part of the tourists here are from the N. eastern part of the U.S. Wendell would find kindred spirits here in the chess clubs, but we confine our sports to shuffle board, horse shoes, dominoes & rummy. We go to the Community Church & think they have a most remarkable pastor. This is a city of elderly people, scarcely see any children. Nearly all tourists are old people. I hope that any of you who would like to may spend a winter in this climate. That is what Florida has to offer, climate. Cal is really wearing a spring & a winter undersuit all the time. Other people do not. Best wishes to you all & love from Annie. Rufus, I will try to let you know what our next address will be before another month goes by. It is Gen'l Delivery here. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 957 James Ave. So., St. Pete, Fla. March 7, 1936 Dear Circle: I was glad to find the "Robin" waiting for me when we got back Fri. night (Mar. 6.) from a four day trip into the center of the state. We had gone to Plant City on Tues AM and got there in time to see their parade of fine floats in their "Strawberry Festival." Then went on to Lakeland and Winter Haven, both places we had heard much about. Lakeland caters considerably to tourist trade and is a pleasant city. Winter Haven claims to have 95 lakes in a radius of 5 miles which isn't any attraction to us as we do not swim, fish, or boat. It is in the heart of the fruit (citrus) section and such beautiful groves and such double truck loads of oranges & grapefruit as we saw! We went into one canning factory where they can grapefruit and found it very interesting, and there are several canneries in each town. This one we visited uses 6 TONS of sugar daily in canning the fruit. They seemed to haul the rinds out to the orchards again, as fertilizer, I suppose. We stayed in a cabin at Lake Eloise over night and the next morning stopped at the Cypress Gardens on the way to Lake Wales & Bok Tower. As we drove into the gardens, another Wis. car came up & we found Mr & Mrs Hart of Madison it it. They live out near the old viaduct on the Middleton road, Ella. You perhaps know them and their beautiful gardens, there. They told us that Paramount, Inc. was to make some films on the lake there that AM so we all stayed to see them. Speed boat racing & over & over again till the camera man said it was right, then stunts. One man came racing & leaped his boat clear over a foot bridge. Another ran his boat clear up on the lawn & another struck & obstruction & was catapulted head over heels several rods onto the bank, but no one was killed, tho' it looked possible. The gardens are very nice, chiefly of plants needing very moist setting. The soil is a mulch that never needs fertilizing. That night we spent at Lake Wales, a small town near Bok Tower. In the morning we went to the Tower. It is truly named, a sanctuary. A beautiful, restful place and most impressive. The azaleas were in full bloom and were gorgeous. We stayed to listen to the chimes program at noon, and then went on to Orlando and spent the night at Winter Park, just out of Orlando. In the morning we drove to Ocala to see the Silver Springs, and took the boat trip to see the sights thro' the glass bottom. They charge plenty, $2.00 for an hour trip, but one must see it to "see Florida". The water is remarkably clear and one can see the curious caves & vegetation many feet below. We think you all have been most fortunate to have kept well thro' all the below zero weather you've had up north this winter. We have had no fire the past week & I got very sunburned at Cypress Gardens that day. The sun is very hot when it shines here and even when it is hazy it still can burn my skin. Ruth writes thay had some below zero weather for a while at Pullman. Ella is surely a born hostess and it's fortunate she feels well enough to do it. We met Mrs Otis and Nellie Kedsie Jones one day in the park also found Mrs Levi Garner was living a few blocks from where we live now. We had to move Jan 16 but found a very comfortable apt. with Mr & Mrs Piper at a very reasonable figure, so we will stay in it till we leave to drive home via Miami, St. Augustine, etc. in April. The winter seems to have gone quickly. We met a Mrs Hopkins at the Iowa picnic who knows Harold & Hermine well, also Charles some. She is from Nevada, Ia. Rufus, I will drop you a card when we decide to start home as to whether you are to send the robin down here or not. Much love to you all. Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - St. Petersburg, Fla. April 11, 1936 Dear Circle: The Robin came yesterday and I am pleased that I shall not miss one as I thought I might from being on our way home. We now plan to leave here on Thurs. the 16th going to Sarasota & Ft. Myers & on down the Tamiami trail to Miami & up the east coast, thro Georgia, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Tenn, Ky, Ohio to Chicago & Madison and maybe Mason City. The reports of floods, cyclones & zero weather from the north seem unreal down here where the sun shines so hot every day, and people sprinkle their lawns each day. The city is now blossoming out more each day. The many oleanders along the streets are in flower now and the hibiscus have been gay all winter & still are. Many tourists have already gone home and some of the business houses close up after the "season" is over and move north to the summer resorts to carry on there. As usual Myrta & Rufus are among the first to finish housecleaning. Cal says he supposes M. saw a speck of dust some where so got right after it. She should come to Fla. and see how they pack them into any little cubbyhole and call it an apt. There are five distinct families in this house we're in. We've been very glad of the opportunity of spending a winter in Fla., especially such a winter as you've had up north, but for really LIVING I like the middle west the best. We've had more fun down here than out in Cal. for people here come down for that but there's not so much scenery as out west. We wonder who bought Charles' farm? He does not say. Wendell and we are the only farmers left now. Gerald was fortunate in winning that prize. Will he give up his forestry work? and Charles & Alice will surely be glad to have Paul's back in Iowa. One day I got courage to go up in a plane with Cal. It was an open plane. We put on helmets & went sailing out over the city & the gulf. I'm glad to have tried it once but shall never be an aviatrix! Last week was a gala week here to close the "season". Each state represented here had a queen & great parade of floats. There were yacht races, balls, pageants, etc. After Easter the town quiets down & the tourists leave rapidly. Every one asking his neighbor "When do you Leave?" and I'm telling "you-all" I'll be mighty happy when I'm in my own home again with my own things about me. Three years is long enough to be away at one time. So long till I see you all again. Love from Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 416 N. Penn. Ave. Mason City, Ia. June 14, 1936 Dear Circle: I see my last sheet was written from St. Pete on Apr. 11th. Well, we got home in just 7 days and without any accident, not even a tire down. We spent one week in Madison at Grace's and then came on to the farm and to Mason C. where we are located in a very compact two room apt. near enough to the stores so I can walk to them to get necessary supplies. I like that, for last summer at Nora S. I had to get the car out every day to get the mail & the groceries, we were so far from the stores. We like Mason City pretty well, not so well as Madison, but Cal can & does go down to the farm every day & finds something to do that need to be done. He has helped Dale put trucks (tongue trucks he calls them) under the weeder and the hay loader and renewed what was needed on the mower. He rebuilt the wood parts on a hay rake for a neighbor & put a new room on the west porch of the farm house. Last Fri & Sat AM he and Dale delivered 2,000 bu of oats at Portland with Dale's truck and tomorrow they are to shell his corn & deliver that to Portland. Dale has a man by the month this year, so Cal hasn't done much field work as he did last year. He is considering painting the buildings yet this summer. As for me, I'm getting so used to having not much to do & not doing much, that I'm like a horse Grandfather Bitterman once had, that he said "could trot all day in a half bushel measure." We are all sympathizing with Gerald & Madeline in their great loss. [Patricia Ann Pickford, d. June 7, 1936, almost 2 years old.] That youngster, Arthur, skipped off to Madison without saying a word to any one, and was back in time to get his page in on time. He & Ella are an example of "growing old gracefully" and enjoying it. It is fine they are both so well. Well, I must pull out our studio couch, get out the bedding, arrange the mattress, put on the bed clothes, and retire. Good night & love from Annie E. B. I am enclosing a letter from Harry Woods to Ethel Churchill Watson explaining some English relations. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mason City, Ia. July 22, 1936 Dear Circle: By having the electric fan running I can write this sheet in comfort. The past three weeks have surely been a caution for heat, without moisture. Cal said there was enough of a shower south of the farm this AM to stop the threshers for a time but not enough to help the corn which is going to be practically a failure soon. The paper stated it was the longest spell of above 100o temp. the state had ever had. He has been busy at the farm getting the threshing machine in order for threshing tomorrow. Several have already finished threshing who have the small outfits and Mr Hill, at Portland elevator, told Cal that not for years had the oats brought in had so fine a color & been so free from rust. Some fields yield quite well and others were so short they were used for pasture. For a long time, we have been undecided what to do about going back to Madison. We like Madison very much & Grace's family is there & such good friends, but out here Cal can help Dale & look after things at the farm so much more easily, that we finally bought a five room bungalow on the east side of town and will settle there when the papers are all made out and the young couple who now live there have had their months notice they must move out Sept 1st. We have not sold our Madison house and the same family who have had it for 3 years will go on in it. Dale has bought the original 80 acres we had along the railroad and we sold a parcel of land on the other side that the R.R. cut off to John Meier & took that cash and bought a lot in the Nora S. Cemetery. So we seem provided with homes for here & hereafter. When we get settled in our new location, we hope to have you all visit us. We will have a living room, dining room, kitchen, bath & two bedrooms with cemented basement under all & an attic with STAIRS. So we think it will be large enough. Rufus' lot looks like an oasis in a desert, so green and neat, and all around so dry & brown. We expect to go back to Madison around the first of Aug. & will stay in our house, 1717 Chadbourne Ave. while doing some refinishing as the family will be away in a cottage that month. That will allow us to get our goods together & not be in their way. Our new location is 718 N. Carolina Place, after Sept 1st, and the latch string will be out. Love to you all. Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thornapple Cottage, Mason City, Ia. Sept 6, 1936 Dear Circle: Just as I took my pen in had to write my sheet, a storm put the lights out, and we are not yet settled in our new location sufficiently to have located any candles but did accidentally find two that have given us light for the past hour. The storm is over now and it is much cooler but no lights yet. We came here to live on Wed PM Sept 2nd and have been hard at work ever since except Fri PM when we were at Nora S. to attend services for Emma Spotts whose death occurred on Tues. AM. She had been very low for 10 weeks and it was a blessing she had to suffer no longer. So far we like our new home better each day as we get things in order. There is considerable to do as it has been rented for 2 1/2 years and nothing done to it, but we are enjoying getting it in order. We have a large lot that has two thorn apple trees and an oak tree, a pool and we think the original owners must have had it land scaped, for there are many shrubs & perenials that must have been very pretty but have had absolutely no care the past 2 1/2 years and have had two summers of drouth to live through. We hope to improve its appearance a lot this fall & by next summer, it should look as if some one cared. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and a well kept home site. In my kitchen I get our meals in a radius of 8 ft. and I do enjoy having the house all on one floor. Cal expects to help the boys fill silos this week but we think the storm this eve will have leveled the corn fields. Dale found enough seed corn for next year last week. Just here, Dale DROVE to Mason because there are no tel. or elec. lights after the storm, to say that the storm had blown down the silo and took some window lights out of the house. Trees are down every where but no damage on our lot. So that means a lot of extra work & expense we had not counted on. But it might have been worse, of course. It will probably mean an expensive brick silo this time. Hope you are all well. Love from Annie. Mon eve. I didn't get this letter off to Wendell today so will add that I'm having a bad attack of my old lumbago tonight. So will have to let up on the work for a time. Mr & Mrs Foote of Madison were our first callers today. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mason City, Ia. Oct 8, 1936 Dear Circle: While I wait until time to go to cooking school, I'll begin this letter. I think it is practically useless for me to attend cooking school for I'm so deep in a rut in cooking that it will take many cooking schools to make any change and its "hard to teach an old dog new tricks" but Myrta was going, so I went, too, for the fun of it. Cal has been busy the past few days constructing a cistern in one corner of our basement himsef and it really looks like a fine job; now if Nature condescends to give us some seasonable rainfall & the cement plant doesn't deposit TOO much on our roof, I hope to be free of buying sal soda, rain water crystals, borax, or Mello! The oaks, the sumacs, & the thornapples are putting on their fall tints and the tulips are planted, but we are not so abreast of the season as Myrta who has her storm windows washed, painted and ON. Ours were stored above in the garage & the supports gave way under them some time before we bought the house, so there is much glass & putty needed on some of them. We are enjoying our new home very much. There are many things we plan to do yet to make it as we want it, but we are very comfy in it. That was a very newsy sheet, Wendell. You gave us a good line on the family. We have not seen any of the young people for years. I shall be glad to copy the list Myrta asks for as I have been away from my family register for such a long time, it is away behind the times, also. We are planning to hear Merle Steven give her address on the Cong'l church program next week and hope to have her stay with us while in the city. Imo [Imogene is Lyle Pickford's wife -Arthur's family.] tells me we are to have a house warming here on Oct. 18 and I hope the weather keeps nice and we have a happy time together. In a letter from Grace today, she says Ella has had her hair bobbed, and has a new oil burner. We have our coal in & some wood. I walked up town & back one day but like better to ride one way at least. The busses may go on the next street soon. Till we see you on the 18th, good luck and love from Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hawthorne Cottage, November 6, 1936 Dear Circle: That was SOME welcome, that housewarming!! And we thank you all for coming & helping make it a happy reunion. Cal was at the farm for a day or two just afterward and it seemed almost lonesome here after such a jolly time. Grace & Noel came thro' Mason C. on their way home via Minneapolis on Mon. AM and took some pictures of the house & its owners. It rained several times the past two weeks and we now have some water in the cistern and Cal is about to install a pump to force it into the pipes upstairs. He has been making a work bench today which looks solid enough to hold anything. Last week he put $10.00 worth of glass & six lbs. of putty & a coat of paint on twenty storm windows. That is the way the days go. I have just returned form the Cong'l Woman's Union meeting where the Pres., in her remarks, said she wished the members might have been at the evening conference when Merle gave them a clear explanation of how their Eau C. Union had solved their problems. Here I stopped to go to the City Progressive Club, where we met a number of friends of twenty years ago and spent a very pleasant evening. On Thurdsay PM we went down to Nora Springs to attend the funeral of Mr Volkmann, who Charles may remember as the blacksmith in the firm of Volkmann & Seamen for the past 40 years, and today, Sat, Dr. E. E. Birney's funeral at Nora S. caused from a stroke of paralysis. The minister at Mr Volkmanns funeral read "The Village Blacksmith" and it was a most fitting description of him. Dale says he has the "Cousin's Round Robin" letter and is sending in on to Paul Pickford whose present address is 977 South York St. Denver, Colo, but Charles writes me that Paul expected to be moved again soon. I think that letter wil be very interesting, also. I'm always glad to get our "Robin." Well, with Gerald as a Forest Ecologist for the government, Earl as a State Senator, and Roger making the "Theory of Probabilities" clear to the uninitiated, I think this family is coming right to the front ranks and dear Daddy Roosevelt will look after every thing else, so all's well for another four years. I hear a sound like a foundry from the basement, so I know Cal is enjoying himself with his motor running something. Love to you all from Anne Elizabeth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mason City, Ia. Dec. 7, 1936 Dear Circle: I must send this letter on for I've had it since Fri. As Wendell says, there's less mileage for it now, so I am more lax about getting it on its way promptly. Being now an old lady of three score and ten, I should realize that I should begin preparations for the next Christmas on Dec. 26th and so avoid the usual Christmas rush, but I'm doing my level best this time in the old way & trust I may reform in time for next yr. We had a very pleasant day on Thanksgiving Day with Dale's family, Jennie & Al Chapman & Effie Parsons here, and yesterday we were at Dale's for my birthday dinner, a very toothsome repast. It was the first below zero day this winter and the snow makes it real winter. We were in New Orleans for dinner last year on my birthday and in St. Pete on 8th where it was so warm, we went looking for rooms without coats, and we didn't use our winter coats again until we got to Ashville, N. Carolina, on our way home in April. Cal has just installed the thermostat Henry gave him (when he had his oil burner put in) [one of the spring-driven chain- drive damper controlers] in the hall, just in time to use in this cold weather and he has just about completed an indoor shuffleboard he saw down in St.P. So when we get the cues to use, come in and have a game with us. I noticed in the "Journal" today that another brother of Bill's had died who was hurt in that terrible accident, making three from one family. It seems to me that 99 times in 100, its just the speed demon behind the wheel that causes all these accidents, coupled now a days with a few "drinks". Cal went up to get his Iowa drivers license Sat AM and found HE had pages of questions & laws to ans. first, tho' he has driven since 1911, and doesn't take even "one beer". This letter won't get around to me before Christmas so I will wish all now a Merry Christmas and a happy & prosperous New Year. With love, Annie E.