Isolated

(Fragment 3)
It was small wonder that my father began walking down the road to Taycheedah to play cards with the men.  He accused her of being solitary and none of the neighbors good enough to invite over.  To tell the truth, that's the way it was.  She was above them in education, had taught school and read every book she could.  She even tried Christian Science, but it never quite came off.

[Editor's Note:  With this fragment, it seems I have finally come to an end, because I cannot find, and may not have preserved, Polly's letters from the 1970's.  My plan now is to re-arrange these extracts in chronological order and then, perhaps, find a way to publish them as a little book.]

Bug off

(Lyndon 3)
We lived alone in the country and looking back I can say I am now ashamed of the way I treated him.  I was playing with my doll family and he had nothing to do so followed me around.  I would blow up at him and tell him to play elsewhere.  Isn't it strange miserable actions often stay with us all our lives?

Lyndon

(Lyndon 2)
Lyndon was about half my age and was born [1911] in Green Lake, I believe, when we lived on the Victor F. Lawson estate.  He was healthy, medium straight brown hair with blue eyes, rather slim.

I'll try

(Lyndon 1)
[Polly's memoir of her brother, written in July 1980.]  I will try to write a few words about my only brother, Lyndon Ellman Parsons, but not factual as you know my memory is not that good.  But since you inquired, I'll try.  One day in our study in the vicinity of the record collection I came across a newspaper account of his death.  I looked again, just now, without finding it, but if ever I do, you will be the one I'll send it to.  [It did turn up.]

Tricks

(Dogs 20)
One day Skip called us outside to watch Vica do her tricks.  We expected to hear her speak and watch her sit up -- the old stanbys -- but Skip had taught her besides to jump thru a hoop, to ride on a fast moving wagon, to heel, to come, to stay, to stand, to sit -- all requisites of training for the next dog show.

A matter of fact

(Dogs 17)
[Editor's Note.  Polly's account of the finding of Vica is pure fantasy.  When Skip got out of the hospital in Milwaukee, he stayed for a week with his grandfather Alfred and combed the want ads himself.  He telephoned around and found Vica.  Alfred drove him out to meet her.  The asking price was $125, and Skip was hoping that Alfred would pay for her as a gift.  Instead, Alfred loaned him the money, which he paid back $10 a month from his allowance.  When it was time for Skip to go back home, Polly and Lorin went to the kennel for the first time, and Skip took possession of his new dog.]

Victory

(Dogs 16)
"That's the dog!  That's what we have been looking for!  Oh, thank you Mother!  Thank you, Daddy!  I can hardly wait to go home."  The eager, frightening, happiness.

Determination

(Dogs 8)
Always docile, Jennie surprised me one day by showing me she had determination to solve a problem when she thought she knew best.  She had had a litter of pups and they were in the utility room.  Hoping to speed up the weaning, I had tied her to a chair in the living room and sat down nearby to read.  A few moments later I was stunned to glance up to see her busily, silently, with no fuss at all, calmly chewing the rope in two, to regain her offspring.

Really my dog

(Dogs 7)
Jennie played with the baby and was loved by all; but she was really my dog, rarely leaving my side.  If I hung clothes on the line, Jenny came in and out with me; if I sat down to read, she lay at my feet; when I lay sick on the davenport, she was tight against it.

First night

(Dogs 6)
"What are you intending to do now?" asked Lorin, dreading a sleepless night before his trial in court the next day.  But I was all ready for Jennie and pulled out a little box half under my bed to show him there was no cause for worry.  All thru the night, whenever she would miss her mother, I'd put down my hand and pat her a bit.  Then we'd sleep again.  In a short time she was independent of me and ready for her basket in the kitchen.

Arrival from KC

(Dogs 6)
All four of us [Ruth and the Kays] went to the station to meet the train and get the dogs.  We let them out on the Court House Lawn and they ran around like crazy, never stopping, wild with joy, tumbling with freedom.  It was evening, and I was worried for fear they would in their delight tear into the street, but they knew the grass was safer, and soon we gathered them up and went off home with our pets.

Jennie

(Dogs 4)
At this time a friend of mine [Ruth Pilger] in Milwaukee had married a man from Kansas [Doyle], and his bitch, a Scottish Terrier, had just had a pretty nice litter of pups.  So we bought one of those and decided that when he send for Midge, one of her pups should make the train journey with her in her box.

Dog time

(Dogs 3)
After I had an education, a husband, a son, a cat and a house, I began thinking how nice it would be to have a little dog too.  At length we caught up with the Depression far enough to decide we could afford one.

Yard dog

(Dogs 2)
I'm afraid I remember little else about Cricket, except for his one outstanding accomplishment, he would never leave the yard.  Passersby, intrigued by such a small specimen, could coax all they cared to with cameras ready, but Cricket would simply stare thru the fence.

Cricket

(1911?)
Last night [in 1980] when I had counted quite enough sheep, I got to thinking about the dogs in my life.  First of all I can remember coming home from school one afternoon and finding my mother sitting down, laughing, and holding her apron down on all three sides as well as she could, trying to keep something underneath, someone who, trying to escape, was making quite a lively job of it, squirming, fighting.  "Guess!  Guess!" ske kept saying.  But I could only stand there staring, until finally she let him out and I took him to my heart.  This was Cricket, a small Black & Tan Terrier.

Depression years

(1934)
Because of staying home so much and having so little company, I became very nervous and went to a specialist.  ***  [Polly's memoirs, written in 1980, stop here (in mid-page) .  For some years thereafter she was badly depressed.  She stopped writing in her 5-year diary on September 14, 1934, about a year after Caroline came.  In 1980 she wrote another set of memoirs, "My Pets," which will follow on this blog.  A bit later, she wrote a memoir about her brother Lyndon, which will also be posted eventually.  For the next few months, this blog will be posted only on alternate days, when Skip can get to his desk.]

Caroline

(1933)
I was not feeling well, was nervous, and we got a maid, Caroline Fandrick.  Jobs were so hard to get she had to put up sharing Skip's room.  There was no other place for her.

City Club

(1930)
Lorin started work at his father's law office the next day.  He usually ate with his father at noon at the City Club, where Alfred said even though expensive they met people who might be in need of their law services.  Perhaps.

Launch

(1930 June)
We continued north [on our honeymoon] the next day until Lorin said, "Let's see what this is like" and turned into the driveway of a summer resort.  The woman in charge showed us two cottages, one was the usual little cheaply built house, while the other was a large launch, evidently no longer fit for the lake, now made into a cottage.  We were amused and delighted and signed for it at once.  I believe in an old photo album there is a picture of me sitting on the entrance steps.  I think Lorin was wearing plus fours.  We swam, went boating and I believe my son was conceived there.

Allowance

(1930)
[Alfred Kay's] children had an allowance out of which they were expected to buy their clothes and amusements, except occasional large items like overcoats, tailormade suits etc.  I know meat balls were frequently served and Grandma Kay did a good deal of patching both of household items and family clothing.