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\noindent
{\bf Dear family and friends,}\hfill December 28, 1991

Happy New Year! I trust you all had a Merry Christmas.
Another year has come and is almost gone. The most memorable aspects
will be Theron's progress, our new second story (and roof), and starting
my Ph.D. Following are the highlights of 1991.

\vglue .1 in
\cl {\twelve\bf January}

In January I made preliminary arrangements to continue working 
more than half-time at Andrews
while going to graduate school.  Things looked a little bleak, as changes
in administration rendered prior arrangements worthless. I attended three
classes winter quarter, none for credit. The six year time limit had
elapsed on {\sl Algebra} and {\sl Applied Math} so I was updating them.
{\sl Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) I} was a bad memory from 1980 and I had
to take {\sl E&M II} in the spring. 

I sold about seven
tons of Andrews used computer equipment for \$17,500 and prepared it for shipping.
Before the year's end I sold over that much again: \$12,000 being for three
RAD bulkheads to OCLC.  We just got a scrapper
bid of \$10,000 for my remaining treasure trove.
I told my boss, ``I'll give you that much.''

\vglue 0.1 in
\cl {\twelve\bf February, March}

We took a car-full (Terri, Theron, Bethany, Ann, and Galahad)
up to Tustin for my birthday. Theron had a cold before the trip.
We all had colds after the trip. 
By the end of March, Theron was saying ``Daddy'', walking, and responding
to requests, such as: ``put the roller back on the truck''---that one
surprised us.

About March I received the
acceptance letters from all seven Universities to which I had applied.
Their offers were barely distinguishable. I visited the six midwest
Universities and determined that it came down to who was willing to
allow me to have additional remuneration.  As Andrews was willing to
budget some travel, the travel cost (but not travel time!) was 
less of a factor. The University of Illinois at
Chicago (UIC) offered a fellowship, the equivalent of half a teaching
assistantship (TA) stipend, mass transit (from Michigan City),
{\bf and} a letter OKing outside work. Notre Dame was
far more convenient, but held out until after the mail came in
on April 15 to inform me that, against their better judgement,
they would allow me not only the tuition waiver, but also a TA stipend,
while allowing the outside work.
April 15 is a magic date for graduate school offers and I could then
decline the offers from UIC and Michigan State University---which 
offered not only the usual, 
but also a scholarship and possibly a three day week. The U~of~M, Western, and Purdue had been 
eliminated and informed earlier. 

\vglue -0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf April}

Galahad tried to chase a pole cat out of the yard---the house stank for weeks.
Late in April I had
the Math half of my comprehensive examinations, it was oral.
Now, with the quarter half over I could concentrate on {\sl E&M II,}
or so I thought.

Theron's first birthday was supposed to be good weather, the yard was all 
ready---it rained---we had well over twenty guests inside.
Alice gave Theron a hand puppet for his birthday---he loved it. 
Days later Terri and
I were playing with him with it when her elbow shot back, striking between
my right eye and temple. 
\eject
%\vglue 0.1 in
\cl {\twelve\bf May, June, July}

Three weeks later I was still having daily headaches. 
The Chiropractor found my neck a mess and other back problems which appeared 
to date back to my dislocated left shoulder of 1984 and the auto
accident of 1969. The summer and fall were interrupted with
treatments, which vastly improved things.
Seeing my improvement, Terri also started treatments, discovering a severely
damaged neck vertebra, probably dating back to her tumbling days.
She wrote, and I laid out, a sixteen page booklet comparing the
approach of a Medical Doctor with a Doctor of Chiropractic.
%So far she has sold fifty copies.

Our house had a ``Michigan basement'' when I bought it. It was about
36 yards$^3$ of dirt around the inside perimeter. I removed the back half
in 1984-88 and reclaimed 150 feet$^2$ of floor space. In March 1990 I started
the front half, and by May I was nearing completion.  The front half
was more work, because I poured the new footing low enough so that the
basement floor could be lowered about 15''---another 36 yards$^3$. 
Theron helped greatly with
one section of floor so we included his footprints. 

In early May we again visited the farm. Theron helped me search for morel
mushrooms---we found about fourteen small ones---everyone got just a taste.
On the return trip we visited my Uncle Luke---he died later that month.
%
I took an incomplete in {\sl E&M II} which I worked on diligently in June.
The AuAg caving group was reactivated with a trip into Reeves.
Bethany joined us for her first wild cave trip.
%
%\vglue -0.05 in
%\cl {\twelve\bf July}

On Friday, July 5, I had the first part of my 
written Physics comprehensive---{\sl E&M}---this was also my final test
for the class.
The following Monday I had the second part---{\sl Quantum Mechanics.}
Originally, I was to have four physics parts, 
but in early June when the final
paperwork for my degree was being processed, a change occurred so I
had to register for two credits of {\sl research}---thus {\bf only} two parts.

Now with all but the {\sl x-ray RADIST research} out of the way I could concentrate on
our new roof.  We decided to relocate the stairs to the basement (thus
enlarging the kitchen and temporarily reducing the living room)
at the same time. The new stairs would be spiral,
going from the basement to the second floor. I poured a substantial footing,
18" below the current basement floor to allow its eventual lowering.

July 14--18 Andrews sent me to the \TeX\ users group in Boston.
By flying out and taking the train back I was able to save AU money and
visit my brother Bruce and his family.  
Theron and I made it to the Calkins reunion
on July 21. I printed descendant charts to help attendees see how
everyone was related. I also did this for the Anderson and Fox-Bullen
reunions---that's thousands of names!

Preparation work on the house now began in earnest. 
Substantial background work had to occur before the 
wrecking crew (Fivashes---Mac, Mac Jr., Weldon) arrived August 5.
This included not only finishing the plans
for the gambrel roof (typical barn roof), getting a dumpster,
and ordering and receiving supplies, but also relocating the electrical.
Since there had been five utility wires across my tiny back yard,
I had long ago vowed to bury any and all of them.
I dug the two foot plus deep, hundred foot long ditch by hand
and buried two 2" conduits.
I also emptied the attic and removed the downspouts, soffits and fascia.
\eject
%\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf August}

August 4 we went to the Anderson reunion, stopping on the way to
reset Theron Fox's gravestone.
Much to Theron's then Terri's amusement, I battled an angry swarm 
of wasps to get the water to mix the mortar.
We then took pictures of the gravestone with Theron.
About now, Theron developed a bedtime game and was saying ``I hide''.

Monday, August 5, 1991 we took the roof and roofboards off my house.
Terri took Theron away and my sister Bethany came to help and feed the crew.
Tuesday, we removed the rafters and prepared the deck for the new floor.
On Wednesday we built the 8"x30' floor joists, put them in place and
brought up the subfloor. On Thursday it poured---I 
scattered the subfloor, put plastic up
on barrels in the dark, and bailed all day.

On Sunday, August 11, I graduated from Andrews with my second Masters degree and
we attended the Fox-Bullen reunion.
On Monday we got the outside ``walls'' up and straightened.
On Tuesday we got the center wall up.
The rest of the week I spent building trusses, often alone.
Thursday night the building crew (my father, my brother Fred and his son Zadok)
arrived. On Friday we got the trusses placed and the top roof deck put up.
We also discovered that Theron likes ladders.

On Sunday we had the James Calkins family reunion and completed the
roof deck on the ``wall'' on the AU side.
By Monday we were shingling, but rain forced us inside.
Tuesday--Thursday we got it shingled, with Terri doing much of it while we
kept busy with ancillary projects.
Bethany and Alice shingled as well.
Our neighbors were also quite helpful, 
loaning tools, giving advice, and helping occasionally.
We then started the stairs---which involved jacking up the old ceiling,
tying it to the new floor, and installing a beam through the kitchen and
living room. On Friday I enrolled in classes at Notre Dame.
During the last week in August we extended the chimney and 
while I attended classes, Fred worked on the stairs.  Then he left.

\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf September}

For me, taking a full-load of classes again was a
timewarp back 13 years. My classes were
{\sl Methods of Theoretical Physics}
(our ``Math'' Class), {\sl Quantum Mechanics}, and
{\sl Classical Mechanics}. In addition, there was 
{\sl Colloquim} and the associated ``Donut Duty''
inflicted on the first year graduate students.
I also had TA duties which included
supervising and grading labs, and proctoring/grading exams and quizzes.
The {\sl General Physics} class has about 450 students, mostly
aspiring engineers.

In September my father retired.
He spent the early part of many weeks working to weatherize
my house, installing soffits and sheet rock, removing the old stairs, 
and doing various miscellaneous other projects too numerous to mention.
Although Bethany's room was not ready when she moved in to start school,
at least we had some breathing room.
September was unusually cold and the windows were delayed.

\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf October}

The last full week in October was mid-semester break.
This was, of course, proceeded by mid-term examinations.
Fred managed to squeeze out almost another 
\eject
\noindent
week to come help.
Bonny came up the week before in their pickup (which I
used to pick up the cedar closet lining) and returned to KY
with her mother in her car.
I was expecting Fred and Jephthae late Sunday. However,
he apparently arrived late Saturday night, surprising me
at four am when I got up to change and feed Theron.
My father also came. Terri found it humorous that we would each be in 
a different corner working on different projects.
That week the windows were installed, the ceiling insulated and sheet-rocked, and
the outside walls insulated---we were almost ready for winter.
Theron advanced from the Nursery Sabbath School to Cradle Roll.

\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf November}

Thankgiving dinner was at Alice's with my in-laws, my father, and
Weldon and Marilyn Fivash.
My father came down after I hung the door and sanded the sheetrock in
Bethany's room. We then primed; painted; papered; installed the underlayment, 
closet liner, and linoleum; and laid the padding and carpet. 
My father, Theron, Galahad, and I
made a quick trip up to the farm on Friday evening, back by 8 am
Sunday for waffles at 9. On our Sabbath afternoon walk I was 
tired of carrying Theron in the field south of the woods and he wouldn't
let his Grandpa carry him, so he quite deliberately
walked the half-mile to the house from the
south end of the picnic hill.

\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf December}

Without the backporch roof, our excuse for a back door was a major heat sink.
One Sunday, instead of doing homework, which was piling up, I replaced 
the 32" wood door with a 36" steel door---maybe we'll be warm yet.
The first year graduate students traditionally have a skit at the 
department Christmas party---we obliged them by satiring our classes.
On Dec.\ 20 my final tests were over at last. I was really looking forward
to Christmas {\bf vacation.} 
Hopefully I can hang the mirrored closet doors and 
finish installing and painting the trim in Bethany's room. 
That will be one room finished, only four more to go (two bedrooms, a bathroom,
and a corner room---and then there's the hallway, stairway, kitchen, $\ldots$).

Terri assumed PMC general Sabbath school secretary duties in June.
She continues to serve on the local library board. She also spent
many evenings helping
my sister-in-law's husband Dave with his computerized bookkeepping.
And Theron, well he's speaking in paragraphs: ``Bye-bye. Have fun! See you!'',
enjoying the full moon, thunder, X-mas lights, and life in general. What a mimic!

\vglue 0.05 in
\cl {\twelve\bf 1992}

We will start the new year with a trip to visit my brother Fred in KY and
Terri will continue into VA to visit her friend Via.
Next semester I will be continuing {\sl Quantum Mechanics}, taking
{\sl Electrodynamics}, and {\sl Methods of Experimental Physics},
and starting {\sl EXAFS research.}
I am also looking forward to TAing for the {\sl Numerical Analysis} class.
Theron will start serious potty training and officially 
enter the terrible twos in April.
My work at AU is assured through June 1993---I think. 
By then I should be finished
with most of my course work at Notre Dame.

Well, that should cover it. Oh, and thank-you for your cards and letters.

\noindent
Enclosure: 610 N. Main St. on August 22, 1991 with Theron, Keith, and Bethany.
\end