I’m staying here. Have room 116 - very nice.
Dearest Patricia:
This letter probably will not reach you till after I’m back in San Jose, but I feel like writing it, so here goes.
I wish you could be here seeing this beautiful country - the Willamette River Valley and the distant mountains on either side. They’re closer on the west and I can see the snow that covers them. The trip up by 720 jet mainliner, United Airlines, was interesting but uneventful - we didn’t crash or run into anything (except clouds) and the pilot landed us very smoothly at 5:38 P.M. about an hour and 25 minutes after take-off from S.F. first we circled left, flew straight over S.F. and the golden gate bridge and turned north over the pacific ocean till we were north of Bolinas Bay. Then the pilot turned inland and took us over the Trinity Alps and the Mt. Shasta reservoir. The “Alps” were snow-covered completely and beautiful. We saw the top of Lassen and all but the top of Shasta. The top was hidden in clouds. The pilot has picking his way in terms of weather, dodging a large stormy area but taking us through a few local rains. At one time over the trinity alps he said, “It’s 45’ below zero outside. We were flying at 3100 feet and could see two layers of strat-cumulous clouds - well separated - below us no clouds at our level. Over Oregon the plane gradually dropped to lower levels - we dropped into the cloud layer - apparently only one over Oregon, but that one dropping a lot of rain. Saw nothing more till we were within 20 min. of Portland when the air cleared to the left of us and we could see the land quite well as we approached.
I decided to hunt up the [?] Hospital at Wilsonville (18 miles S of Portland) and arrived with only 15 min left of visiting time. But I knew where the place was then. Decided to drive on down to Salem, only another 30 miles to visit my older sister, Annie, who moved back here from Chico because she missed her many friends too much. However, she had not yet returned from Florida when she went at Christmas (Miami) to visit my younger brother Paul. He is a cook and his wife is a librarian. They prevailed on her to stay a while but thought she had recently returned hope. Apparently she’s somewhere on the way - by bus!
I looked up some friends and neighbors - an Ed and Nola Englehorn whom I last saw 2 or 3 years ago when I was up here. They asked me to stay overnight so we could have a real good visit which I did. Both of them work for the state of Oregon in one of the commissions at Salem (state capitol). I didn’t leave till nearly 11, but that gave me time to get back here and find a place to stay.
The enclosed items are some of the beautiful or intriguing bits that I thought you’d like to see and sniff, maybe. The foliage is Douglas Fir - the most abundant tree up here and beautiful in all states. I’m bring back to your mom a handful of the lovely douglas fir cones!
The oak leaf is from a “pin oak”, I think though it could be a scarlet oak. I think its pin oak because the pin oak holds its leaves through the winter. They die, as any deciduous tree but the pin oak is one deciduous tree that will not give up its leaves. I had to pull this one off.
Then there is a bit of wood moss from a shady spot under a couple of trees. And some male catkim (pollen producers) from a hazel nut tree which both grows wild and is grown as a crop tree in the country. The ones enclosed are from a wild tree.
There are lots other beautiful things here but they are mostly too big for a letter. I hope you enjoy these, whether I see you again before they arrive or not. Of course I’ll see you in your pictures that I brought with me.
My judgment about my friend Charlotte Chamberlin was completely correct. She has no special problem to present to me or discuss with me. She just wanted a visit from a friend. As someone to visit with, I’m doubtless doing some real good, but I’m not [?] on her to solve any lasting problems.
Her sister has the flu and hasn’t visited her in quite a while - probably since she had Charlotte put in the hospital here to “sober up” or as she ways “to pay for my sins”. Charlotte is in excellent health now - has had nothing alcoholic to drink since she came. She will be discharged soon and will have her old problems all over again - unless - which I doubt - she has got some real enlightenment in the hospital here and has decided that her future really is up to her. But she gives no sign.
Will see you soon - I’ll get home Monday evening some time. I miss your intelligent company. Love - Carl.
Dr. Carl Duncan and Patricia Whiting Collection (SJSU)
