Dec. 27, 1977
Ranch:
Well hello again from sunny paradise! We are enjoying a warm evening here in our new home. We just planted an acre of eddoes & 300 pineapples today, just 6 of us, pretty good! Dad inspired us to plant & produce fast so everyone can get here sooner. We race with other crews to produce more. We planted about 6 acres of rice a couple of weeks ago. We have done the “water brigade” line for the garden 4 times, it is quite a cooperative effort, about 50 of us, all field crews do it. We hear the news read by Dad over the PA system, also S. [socialism] teachings and agricultural reports. We heard a tape of Mother [Marceline Jones] singing & Diane’s [Wilkinson] new song, really beautiful. We hear they’ll be here soon. We’ll be glad to see them. Heard you did the grapes & Rob [Tarver] came out to help, must have been a push!
That investigation must have been hairy! I’ll bet you were nervous about it, glad to hear everything was ok. I heard there was another offer on the ranch, hope it produces something.
That cracks me up about Bob B. We finally got something out of him. I bet you just loved it. What a bargain! Bet he’ll never go shopping with you again!
Daren [Janaro] said he added a note to Mauri’s [Janaro] letter for you. I told him to write a diary day by day & he said he would. He doesn’t seem to have lost much weight & is tan & healthy. He of course does very well in school & is working in the warehouse with Bev [Livingston], he really likes it there. Mauri was praised by Dad for her suggestion to plant food around the dorms & other areas in close & it was implemented immediately. Now there are banana trees & pineapples etc. everywhere! She seemed happy & helps Christine [Talley] who takes care of anything that comes along, she sure found her spot. Chris is very happy with her job & will be all over rabbits & small animals. Jeff [Wheeler] was praised for his diligent, thorough hard work on the banana crew this week. Teresa K. [King] and Danny K. [Kutulas] were very impressed by him, said he did better than most of the adults. Joe W. [Wilson] said he could have the loft in the cottage because he is so good, he is very happy about that. He says he has a girlfriend but won’t tell me who, he’s growing up, Claire! Danny B. [Beck] is busily being himself, looks healthy & happy. Darius [Wheeler] is doing very well in school. They had “open house” & he got 95 out of 100 math problems right, can read pretty well & got high marks on spelling. He is eager & attentive thank Dad! School here is so much better! The equipment they have is really great! Tom [Grubbs] wants me to do a pull out program with special children but right now they need me in the fields to produce, so I don’t know when. Nancy S. [Sines] is on the banana crew & seems really at home with it. She goes around with her sloth attached to her. It hangs from the ceiling upside down to sleep, weird. The anteater follows Bev around like a baby & “cries” when she won’t hold it. Just saw Pat G. [Grunnet]. She says Danny B. is her “model” student, does his work well & diligently.
Listen, we need writing tablets for letter writing for everyone. I don’t have any myself so I have to get it from letter writing, so send some please. Also the glue sticks are really needed for letters, send them to Rita for letter writing department. Send them as often as you can. Heavy rubber bands are handy here & shoelaces or boot laces if there’s a sale.
While I’ll have to close now and get this off to you folks. Preston [Wade] is very responsible & a hard worker. You should get a letter at the same time as this letting you know about Bippy [Davis]. Oh, Patty C. [Cartmell] has lost a lot of weight, so there’s hope! Don’t worry about weight, lots of people are slimmer, it’s easy to do, so have a good time eating while you’re there! Everything is great here, everyone says hello. We think of you all often. Darius & Jeff say hi, Jeff said he wrote you a letter, Claire, I thought that was nice!
See ya,
Marlene