1974 Catherine Letter -Jun2,5

June 2, 1974

Dear Mom, Dad, John and Mary,

Hi!  Sorry I haven't written in so long.  We've been busy and the time goes very quickly.  The weather has been very lousy here for the past two weeks.  The sun shone on May 20th and then disappeared from view until yesterday afternoon when it made a brief appearance and then disappeared again.  Today it was cloudy all day but at least it was fairly warm (70º).

We got up at 5 A.M. yesterday morning as the cement truck was supposed to come to pour the footings at 8 A.M. and we had to make some last minute bracings for the forms.  However, it was raining when we got up and it was still raining at 7 so we had to cancel the cement truck because we were afraid the driveway would be too slippery for it.  Then about 9 it finally quit raining and it was rearranged for the cement to be delivered at 11.  So we did finally get the footings done.  It took 13 cu. yards.  After all that frantic activity of the morning we went to a formal dance sponsored by a local sorority last night.  I wore my bridesmaid dress from Marianne's wedding which was the first time I'd worn it in three years.  We went with a couple who lives down the street so we were able to meet alot of their friends including another guy who is building his own house.  It made for a rather long day, though, and neither of us has been overly energetic today.

Maine has started their campaign for tourists.  This year in addition to trying to drag people up from southern New England they are also trying to get Maine people to vacation in their own state.  The slogan is "Nobody is closer to Me. than You."

Our primary election is on June 11th so there is also quite a bit of campaigning going on for that.  There are 2 Republican and 6 Democratic candidates for governor with no incumbent so it should be an interesting contest.  We also get to vote on whether we want an oil refinery in Sanford.  The town meeting already voted to rezone the land for the refinery but some of the opposition got enough signatures to bring the question to a referendum so now we will all have a chance to make a choice.

June 5

Received your letter yesterday, thanks for yours too, Mary.  We finished taking the forms off of the cement yesterday so now we're ready to begin with the next step.  This coming weekend we have to clear an area 38 x 38' for the septic tank bed.

The Maine Library Association convention begins today and goes through Friday.  Fortunately for us it is held at the Shawmut Inn in Kennebunkport (about 20 miles from here) so most of the staff has a chance to go and we don't have to shut down the library.  X will be going all three days and I will be going tomorrow and Friday.

I haven't talked to Ellen or Tom [Walkley] since they have moved so I can give you no further news of Aunt Virginia.  I was going to call them last night and see if they are getting all settled but I forgot and now it's too early but I think I better mail this anyway or you won't get it before you go to Lakeside.

Love, Catherine & X