Letter 01: Ice Age Territory - John to Dan Reply

Dear Dan,

Well I finally made it out of Natchez for a trip. My grandparents took me all the way to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. So we were near your neck of the woods. This was the furthest west I’ve ever been. And when we crossed into Kansas from Missouri there was a sunflower forest! There was a sign saying this area was covered by glaciers in the ice age. And at one time bison roamed those parts.

It would have been great to see you out there in the windblown plains. Something about the Great Plains with their wide open skies makes me want to sing cowboy songs under the stars. But I’ll make it out there. You and me will ride bikes in the big sky country. When I think of those men hunting Wooly Mammoths in the Arctic frost my heart is filled with wonder.

I hope you get that bike of your spiffied up like you want. I know you will. God those sand burrs sure would make me keep my shoes on. Here in the south we have black stinging caterpillars. They fall from the trees and crawl all over the yard. Stepping on them barefoot is asking for some big hurt.

Those pioneer books are a great find. Living in your little bitty town sounds good for the soul. Hey I wrote a poem about going to Kansas. Here it is:

My First Trip West

Saffron sunflower forests rose
Under turquoise vault of heaven
Welcomed me to pelagic plains
On the edge of an ice age land
Where bison once roamed free

Your Friend,
 

John  

Letter John is replying to:

Letter One - Moving To Genoa

Letter 05: Dan To John - Thanksgiving 1970

Dear John,      November 26th, 1970 - Thanksgiving

I just got your two letters. (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way!) Mom got them both a couple of days ago, but waited until today to give them to me so that I would get my homework done. You're not the only one who needs to get back to his arithmetic! Haha! Mine isn't because of a girl, though.

It's a good thing your friend Jeff was there at the bayou! Otherwise I might've had to find another way to practice cursive writing - like doing homework! Haha! Just kidding. I'm glad the snake didn't bite you.

I'm writing on Thanksgiving Day because everyone else is stuffed with turkey and napping in front of a football game. B!O!R!I!N!G!

Over >

Page 2

I would way rather watch cartoons like Spider Man or Space Ghost, or ride my bike, or read a book about Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie than that stupid game.

The part about Tracy wrapping you up like a mummy for Halloween sounded really fun. I would love to have seen a picture of that. My costume was Frankenstein this year. My little sister had the really neat costume this year, though. My Mom sewed her up this amazing green dinosaur costume. It had a long tail, and she looked like a cross between the Sinclaire gas station dinosaur and a tyranosaurus rex.
[Drawing of dinosaur trick-or-treating]

I don't know what you are talking about with tracy being "bossy for a girl." I've never met a girl that wasn't bossy! Haha! Not that I listen...

Over >

Page 3

Wow, it sounds like you have a bad crush on tracy. I had a sort-of girlfriend last year when we lived in Madison, Wisconsin. Her name was Sandy Lee Bailey. She didn't ask me all kinds of questions, though. We snuck into the bushes under the railroad tracks one day. I think we were both shy. I kissed her, and held her hand. It was the first and only time I ever kissed a girl. So far...

Most of the time Sandy Lee and I would ride her pedal Mustang around on the sidewalk at the apartment complex we both lived in. She lived two buildings down from us. She and her family moved to another State this Summer too. I miss her a little. I'll probably never see her again. You know with moving...

Over >

Page 4

I've never been on roller skates. It looks like fun, but I'd probably fall on my butt! There was a girl in our apartments in Madison that had the steel roller skates that you strap on your shoes and skate in the street with. I never got to try those. She told me that you really have to watch out for pebbles.

I wonder why tracy is worried about kidnappers? Do you think she is reading too much Nancy Drew?

I am so looking forward to Christmas. I'm hoping to get some new hotwheels and track. My Stepdad took a piece of track to use as a paddle! I wish I could burn that thing! I have to go. The apple pie is ready. Write soon!

Your friend,

Dan

[Drawing / diagram of hotwheel-track paddle in left margin]

Letter 02 - John's Reply To Dan

Dear Dan,

Wow! You saw the moon landing live! I saw it on playback. But that is great that your classmates didn’t cut up. I think I want to be an astronaut when I grow up. Those guys jumping around on the moon look like they had barrels of fun. But right now I’m enjoying life on earth. You know I think this girl is serious about me. I got me a girlfriend. I never thought that would happen. I must be crazy at my age to go steady. Being with a girl feels stranger than walking on the moon. But boy it beats watching TV. And for the first time I feel romantic. What a weird notion for a freshman. But here it is and real as can be.

Her name is Tracy and for Halloween she wrapped me in sheet strips as a mummy. I got butterflies in my stomach as I’d never been that close to a girl before. But she is so cute that I really enjoyed it. If I ever get married it would be to her. So I thought she just liked me as her guy pal. Boy was I mistaken.

Here’s how it all started. She was climbing out of the pool when she asked if I liked her. I said as a friend. She smiled and said “I think more than that.” So she told me to meet her at the skating rink on Saturday night. She seems kind of bossy for a girl. But I kind of liked it. Pretty soon we were going steady.

At the rink my best friend Keith had me and Tracy wrap our arms around each other so close that I could smell her perfume. She was kind of nervous and said she’d never been like this with a boy. So my heart did flip flops. But Tracy seemed to enjoy it as she held me there long enough for me to catch my breath.

Tracy had some mighty funny questions for me. She asked me “John if Brigitte Bardot were to want you for her own would you leave me?” Tracy is such a kidder. But this time she wasn’t joking. So I told her, “You’re prettier without makeup than Brigitte all dolled up.” Tracy had a smile like she’d won a jackpot in Las Vegas. So then she pulled an even bigger one out of her hat. She said, “If a kidnapper were to say, ‘It’s either you or the girl’ what would you say?” So I told her “What any gentleman would do.” Tracy hopped like a girl in a game show.

God that girl is sweet on me. It feels like true love. I got a crush on that girl. Now if only I could get back to my arithmetic. Mom thinks I’m girl crazy.
 
Your friend,
John 

Letter 02 that John is replying to Link