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Nile Kinnick correspondence, September-November 1942

1942-10-11: Page 01

Sunday evening, October 11, 1942. Dear Nile and Ben:
Each passing day I appreciate that I again have been delinquent in not writing to one or the other of you.    It is amazing  to me how little excuse it seems to require for me to pass by the opportunity for keeping up that close contact which means so much to all of us.    Probably the most used alibi is that mother has just written - so I put it off.    I swear that I shall do better hereafter.  These letters, a copy to each of you, should be fairly heavy, as i am enclosing some pictures, some of which date back into September when Nile and Bob were here, but most of them were snapped in response to Ben's urgent request that we take "lots" of Ellie before she weighed anchor.  You may such of them as you may want to carry with you, or you may return them.    Ben, I hope that we have filled, your order.    Also I have sent some of them back to grandma, and
a copy to Kate of the one of Elsie et al.    Enclose are some clippings which will be of interest I know.    Return them; I mean those of George's games. In this same mail I am sending you the sports sheets from the Sunday Register, and I shall do that each week during the football season, and I am sorry that I failed to do that for the previous weeks.
The past week has been one of unsurpassed and genuinely grand fall weather.  Fair, mild, even warm some days, and certainly just what anyone would order.    We had a hard frost about two weeks ago, which killed all of the tender vegetation. The ivy on the front of the house is now a deep red, except just under the eaves where the summer green prevails.   The sycamore trees are turning yellow; the elm in the back yard is yellow and has lost most of its leaves, and anywhere you walk now is to the music of rustling leaves.  Morning and evening the blackbirds race back and forth between Elmwood and Fontenelle; a clattering, chattering horde; a hedge-hopping swarm of miniture planes. The other morning they were
on the wing just as I emerged for the trip down to the office. Noting that the
friendly invaders were dropping a few "bombs" I discretely stayed under a tree
until they had passed on.    Just a nuisance raid, I guess.
The September freeze did little damage to the com crop except in isolated cases
of very late corn, but the soy beans have suffered considerable damage. The
rains that continued during August and September keep the beans green and growing
so that, generally speaking, they were"far from mature. "Probably there will
be a fairly high percentage of damaged beans in nearly all fields. Exactly what
the result will be to the yield and marketable quality, has yet to be determined.
I shall not be out in the state, and of course I mean Iowa, again until two
weeks hence. Then, the last week of this month, I shall be attending daily
meetings from Monday to Friday at Decorah, Cresco, Mason City, West Union and Dubuque. That part of the state should be rather handsome from the scenic
standpoint. As 1 shall be with two other men from the bank I shall have no
opportunity to take your mother along, which I have wanted to do for many years.
The rugged topography and the river views make it one of the most interesting

Saving...

Sunday evening, October 11, 1942. Dear Nile and Ben: Each passing day I appreciate that I again have been delinquent in not writing to one or the other of you. It is amazing to me how little excuse it seems to require for me to pass by the opportunity for keeping up that close contact which means so much to all of us. Probably the most used alibi is that mother has just written - so I put it off. I swear that I shall do better hereafter. These letters, a copy to each of you, should be fairly heavy, as i am enclosing some pictures, some of which date back into September when Nile and Bob were here, but most of them were snapped in response to Ben's urgent request that we take "lots" of Ellie before she weighed anchor. You may such of them as you may want to carry with you, or you may return them. Ben, I hope that we have filled, your order. Also I have sent some of them back to grandma, and a copy to Kate of the one of Elsie et al. Enclose are some clippings which will be of interest I know. Return them; I mean those of George's games. In this same mail I am sending you the sports sheets from the Sunday Register, and I shall do that each week during the football season, and I am sorry that I failed to do that for the previous weeks. The past week has been one of unsurpassed and genuinely grand fall weather. Fair, mild, even warm some days, and certainly just what anyone would order. We had a hard frost about two weeks ago, which killed all of the tender vegetation. The ivy on the front of the house is now a deep red, except just under the eaves where the summer green prevails. The sycamore trees are turning yellow; the elm in the back yard is yellow and has lost most of its leaves, and anywhere you walk now is to the music of rustling leaves. Morning and evening the blackbirds race back and forth between Elmwood and Fontenelle; a clattering, chattering horde; a hedge-hopping swarm of miniture planes. The other morning they were on the wing just as I emerged for the trip down to the office. Noting that the friendly invaders were dropping a few "bombs" I discretely stayed under a tree until they had passed on. Just a nuisance raid, I guess. The September freeze did little damage to the com crop except in isolated cases of very late corn, but the soy beans have suffered considerable damage. The rains that continued during August and September keep the beans green and growing so that, generally speaking, they were"far from mature. "Probably there will be a fairly high percentage of damaged beans in nearly all fields. Exactly what the result will be to the yield and marketable quality, has yet to be determined. I shall not be out in the state, and of course I mean Iowa, again until two weeks hence. Then, the last week of this month, I shall be attending daily meetings from Monday to Friday at Decorah, Cresco, Mason City, West Union and Dubuque. That part of the state should be rather handsome from the scenic standpoint. As 1 shall be with two other men from the bank I shall have no opportunity to take your mother along, which I have wanted to do for many years. The rugged topography and the river views make it one of the most interesting