Dear Family,
We are still working about 10-hour days, but we now know more of what we are doing. There are still things we don’t know, but those mysteries are much fewer and less frequent than 2 weeks ago.
The couple we replaced, Elder and Sister Beus, left September 10, 2018. We arrived October 2, 2018. Before the Beus’ left, the Judson’s came to fill in the breach. They served in the office 5 years ago and kept things going until we came. They have been coming in about 3 times a week to train us and help us out. But we are far enough along that we will now call them only when we are stuck.
I am going to run my stuff mostly on the computer. I will still have files but many of them will be on the computer instead of paper files. My calendaring will be done more on the computer. I think in a month or two I will be able to get my current tasks done in 6 hours a day. I will then be able to help out elsewhere or do some creative things.
Friday, we got a free Papa John’s pizza. The fellow behind me in line at Papa John’s said that he finds half-off pizza deals on his smart phone. He just asks google, if there is half price pizza and google tells him where it is.
Saturday, we went to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. The estate was several thousand acres. The mansion has two parlors, a kitchen and 10 bedrooms – NO Baths! The “Necessary” (outhouse) was about 3 yards from the mansion. The kitchen was in an adjoining building. The out buildings included a clerk’s office and bedroom, wash room (two slaves washed and ironed clothes 6 days a week), cobbler’s room, smoke room where fish and meat were smoked to preserve the meat, stables, rooms for the slaves, blacksmith and others. It was a community of a few hundred people that supplied most of the needs of the people. Down the road was a distillery and grist mill. We drove by but did not visit.
The land was beautiful and much of the land is still farmed. About a hundred or more yards behind the house and down a slope is the Potomac River (or Chesapeake Bay).
We are still working about 10-hour days, but we now know more of what we are doing. There are still things we don’t know, but those mysteries are much fewer and less frequent than 2 weeks ago.
The couple we replaced, Elder and Sister Beus, left September 10, 2018. We arrived October 2, 2018. Before the Beus’ left, the Judson’s came to fill in the breach. They served in the office 5 years ago and kept things going until we came. They have been coming in about 3 times a week to train us and help us out. But we are far enough along that we will now call them only when we are stuck.
I am going to run my stuff mostly on the computer. I will still have files but many of them will be on the computer instead of paper files. My calendaring will be done more on the computer. I think in a month or two I will be able to get my current tasks done in 6 hours a day. I will then be able to help out elsewhere or do some creative things.
Friday, we got a free Papa John’s pizza. The fellow behind me in line at Papa John’s said that he finds half-off pizza deals on his smart phone. He just asks google, if there is half price pizza and google tells him where it is.
Saturday, we went to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. The estate was several thousand acres. The mansion has two parlors, a kitchen and 10 bedrooms – NO Baths! The “Necessary” (outhouse) was about 3 yards from the mansion. The kitchen was in an adjoining building. The out buildings included a clerk’s office and bedroom, wash room (two slaves washed and ironed clothes 6 days a week), cobbler’s room, smoke room where fish and meat were smoked to preserve the meat, stables, rooms for the slaves, blacksmith and others. It was a community of a few hundred people that supplied most of the needs of the people. Down the road was a distillery and grist mill. We drove by but did not visit.
The land was beautiful and much of the land is still farmed. About a hundred or more yards behind the house and down a slope is the Potomac River (or Chesapeake Bay).
They had a museum and education center where there were many exhibits and 4 films – we saw two about George Washington and the Revolutionary War.
The most fun thing was after we visited Washington’s tomb, we went to a memorial for the slaves that worked there. They read 3-minute histories of a couple of the slaves. Then an African American, dressed in period costume, said a few things and quoted from speeches given there. The fun thing was he pulled out a fife (kind of like a piccolo) and played “Amazing Grace” very beautifully. He played it a second time and invited the tourists to sing along. There were a couple of good singers in the group.
The most fun thing was after we visited Washington’s tomb, we went to a memorial for the slaves that worked there. They read 3-minute histories of a couple of the slaves. Then an African American, dressed in period costume, said a few things and quoted from speeches given there. The fun thing was he pulled out a fife (kind of like a piccolo) and played “Amazing Grace” very beautifully. He played it a second time and invited the tourists to sing along. There were a couple of good singers in the group.
We were there for 5 hours and did not see all we wanted to see. A very interesting and fun trip.
As far as I can tell WES is doing OK. We won’t be making much money the next few months. We might lose some, but next year may be good. I usually spend 2 to 3 hours in the evenings working with the Carlos discussing issues of the day, going over the numbers and making plans. I am not sure how much I am contributing, but I try.
Love,
Dad
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| Mom in front of the bowling green in front of the Mt. Vernon Mansion |
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| Mom standing by the back porch of the Mt. Vernon Mansion. |
Love,
Dad
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