Alfred

I haven't really anything to write except that there are
clouds all about -- storms in the distance --
fringes and veils
of rain with lightening over the pedernal and cool enough for me
to have on a jacket almost all day -- I've been fussing with a
little painting -- I'm really too tired to be doing much about
it but I must get moving --

Slim Jarmon -- the head cow boy around here -- takes
care of the horses -- there are a lot of them -- came riding by
and we had long conversation -- He is a real character --

The coolness and greyness feel strange after all
the warm days and sunshine

Again - I sit at the mail box to write this --
A drop or two of rain -- car top down -- my green shawl round
me -- and I'm really half asleep

A kiss to you
I'll look for the morning mail now --

Thursday afternoon -- I didn't write yesterday -- There really was
nothing much to write -- We have just had a gale of wind that
swept past here in a high cloud of pinkish dust -- whirling very
high and fast -- full of tumble weeds -- it went on toward the
mountain -- when it had passed us we ran up on the roof to watch
it spinning on for miles -- Now a little hard rain and thunder
are following it --

I have just been packing one of my queer
pieces of red cedar that Mr. Pope wanted and I promised to send
him. You remember him. He came with his very tall son. You had
met him before. It was one of those unpleasant little packing jobs
that that one is always putting off. I am glad it is done.

Also I was looking at some of my fine colored
earth samples. They are very beautiful -- quite surprising to pick
up on a hill side --

I made bread this morning and it is very good. Marías
bread is never quite right. I am always surprised I can do it so
well -- I wish you could taste it.

I have just had your letters of the 4th. and
7th - You see they sometimes come fast and sometimes they don't.
Also I have a letter from Saga -- that is always a comfort. I
am so glad your radio is fainly working.

Oh -- when I read your letters and feel how you are
it seems I should be there for you to lean on a little -- or
just for you to take my hand to steady you -- I am sorry that it
is this way -- that I am so far away -- Today I feel very good --
less tired -- I guess I'll come to life in time --

A quiet kiss to you. I am glad you have decided on
a date for the country and that you go up with Herbert

A quiet kiss to you

Friday

## Good Afternoon

Well -- it finally rained yesterday -- poured for a little while -- hard enough so that when one looks out almost all day today one knew it had rained by the color of the earth -- There have been storm clouds threatening all day today too. It feels and smells good to have the earth wet after it has been dry for so long --

I went to bed early -- My friend Roy - a young fellow who worked here the past two years was here. Isn't working on the ranch any more -- His father works here too and it seems in the spring there was trouble of one kind or another - Arthur asked Roy's father to take Roy's pistol from Roy and the kid in a fury drew the gun on his father -- didn't shoot but it made much trouble -- it is really his stepfather - so Roy left -

He is such a handsome boy -- 19 -- neither child nor man tho he looks about 26 -

A long story he told us - he likes the Mexican girls -- oh it was trouble all round --

He stayed for supper last night -- so handsome as a man and still just a baby -- I tried to get him to give me his gun and he wouldn't

Well -- such things make up the news here

About Saga. I am paying her for the house and for herself and I am paying her a plenty. I have arranged it all with her -- about the moving and everything. I even arranged with the moving people.

A quiet kiss to you

I'll be glad when you are in the country

I had a letter from Miss Wilson

Alfred - I sit here looking out the window intending to write
you and I really haven't anything to say -

All yesterday, Tuesday
morning I was thinking of you on the train for Lake George -- then
I had your letter saying you would not be going till the end of
the week -- Why don't you take Saga up with you and let her stay
for a few days in the country --

But I suppose you will not.

I painted yesterday -- and day before on one of the
paintings I wrote you of -- it is all different and when I look
at it I must laugh -- and I say to myself -- Well it isn't the
same painting -- it is a new one --

Maria went to town yesterday afternoon and brought home
a most beautiful rock that I think she just took from a friends
house -- it is very handsome on my window sill --

Last night I got Quincy Howe on the Radio. It was
transcribed here of course. I wonder if you ever get him.

You will have seen Peggie and Sissie by now. I
suppose you had a pleasant time together

I haven't seen any one but I like what I see
any way

It is rather useless to try to write when one has little
to say but

Good Morning !

Your letter this morning tells me that you do not go to the
country till next Tuesday - so you have time for my letter
suggesting that you take Saga with you.

Well --- do as you
please.

I have no news -- -- for some unknown reason I had a very
bad headache yesterday so I stayed in bed almost all day. It
is better today but I am being quiet again today -- It has been
a very warm day but on the bed cool enough to want a sheet over me.
- Is grey now --- maybe there will be rain.

I haven't done anything but read a little --
very little I had to laugh yesterday when you said you wondered
how I am looking. I am still very tired from the city but I'll
probably get over it in time -- Maria snorts with rage that
I return so tired --

I feel much better today than yesterday --

A quiet kiss to you

I think it is Thursday

Well sir :

I am feeling better -- well enough so that I
came to Abiquiu to get a package --- and also for the drive --
I think.

Have been talking to the store keeper -- a German
-- here 26 years -- the only white man in the town --

I sit here
in the car by the post office door. He is certainly a character
--- telling of his troubles with the natives. -- I tell him they
are not any worse than the kind of people I know -- The human
being seems about the same everywhere

A quiet kiss to you

Yes -- I am feeling almost alright again

Friday ---

Alfred -- I have your letter again today - Tuesday - saying that the days are very long and it makes me sad -- Also - my yesterdays letter to you was not taken out of the mail box yesterday - I saw the bus man this morning when I met Bernie and asked him to be careful about it --

I am sorry -- Bernie and Max came this morning - she is sweeping and dusting the house today - He is a big boy - 14 months old - he doesn't walk yet and doesn't talk - Well - it seems rather nice to have her again -- I am very fond of her -- I am sitting on the roof so I can see all round - the sun is low -- will be gone in a little while. - I went out to paint this morning -- on an old painting of two or three years ago. The weather has turned a little cooler - - This afternoon the wind blew hard - a dust storm making the air thick for some time -- then a little rain. Mr. Bennet came for tea -- he is an old old fellow -- very nice -- really nice -- but I'd never miss him if I never saw him --

I am glad you had two letters from me the day you went to Glens Falls --

I had a wonderful letter from Henwar this morning -- really wonderful -- I am glad that you agree with me that he is quite specially fine --

I wish you could sit here on the roof with me -- I am sure you would like it -- I can see you looking and looking quietly - it is so handsome all around - and so still -

Did I tell you that on Sunday I got my skull out -- I call it John -- the young man who brought it to me is named Johnnie so I thought John a good name for the dead one -- it has so much more weight and dignity than Johnnie -- I got it out in the patio on a bench with a bucket of water and gave it a good scrubbing -- it looks much whiter but some sun will do the rest -- It

sits on a stump down in the patio looking at me. I have great
respect for it -- it has both lived and died --

Well -- the sun is gone except for its last touch on the
cliffs to the East -- very warm colored -- My good night kiss
to you goes over those cliffs to you toward a very strangely blue
sky -

Wednesday - I haven't had the mail yet today it is 4:15 P.M.
Was out painting this morning -- A painting like this has a different
sort of feeling here than it can have in N.Y. -- There are places
out in those red hills that have such a wide nondescript look
of nothingness that is wonderful. On my white - not too smooth
wall here it looks lovely -- tho it isn't much

We are having such odd days -- lovely clear sunny
mornings -- uncertain afternoons -- usually with rain and wind -
this afternoon we only have clouds -- no rain or wind -

I think

I'll go out and work again

There really is no news - except that Maria
doesn't like having Bernie here and had a lunch that hadn't a
bite that the baby could eat - It was funny - she said she was
feeding me and not the baby but I couldn't eat much of it either
- She is funny -- She doesn't want to do many of the things that
Bernie does and she doesn't want Bernie here to do them either

A kiss to you

AIR MAIL

Alfred Stieglitz

Box 201

Labor Day

509 mad. ave..

New York

N. MEX.

GRAND CENTRAL
ANNEX

Tuesday Afternoon --

It is a perfectly clear cloudless day --
what we call a "White Place" day because we can only go there when
there is no fear of rain -- We will be off in a little while --
at about 5 P.M. -- I will mail this on the way . I was out painting
this morning on my same old painting -- I guess if I go over to
the White Place for a couple of days I may get out of my Red Hill
rut. I don't seem to be doing very well in it --

Yesterday Maria
went to town to take Bernie to an eye clinic -- she has an odd spot
on her eye -- they say it is from childbirth -- a slight operation
to remove it --- The doctor performs the same operation on many
women all in one day later in October -- I am glad it is nothing
serious --

I fussed around the house all morning -- cleaning up
things I only get a whack at when I am alone -- Took a nap after
lunch -- then Mrs. Vale came -- we sat for some time then I took
her for a little drive to show her things she can not walk to --
Something about her I like --

She will be in to see you -- I think
you will like her too --

Sunday I painted all day -- I have a morning
and an afternoon painting -- both have something I like but they
are both quite impossible too

I'm going to try the White Place for two days so
there will be no letters as I have no way to mail them

Your letters sound as if your itch is giving you
a very bad time -- you didn't tell me exactly where it is -- Is
it where it was last winter?

2

Enclosed are some very bad snaps that Richards niece took when they were here. She was a wonderful child -- only 16 -- also a picture Johnnie took of Maria -- send them all back to me please -- the man is Richard -- one is of the front of the house -- the queer line at the right is the ladder going to the roof --

Mafia sends her best regards--

Well --- I must stretch a canvas to take along and make up my camping bed -- Maria does the food --

We have to take the kittens too asthere is no one to feed them here.

A kiss to you

I hope you are getting some relief

I must be off - I plan to stay two days -- it is just about 3 miles from Abiquiu but the road so bad we will not go for mail -

Friday Afternoon -- Sept. 18

Well -- we returned from the White Place last night --
there were big clouds or we would have stayed till today. We were
afraid it might rain and it is a place we only go when the weather
is particularly clear and cloudless -- it is as beautiful as
anything I've ever seen -- a large area of fantastic -- almost
white cliffs -- often looking like long folds of lovely almost
white material -- it is really wonderful -- I had never stayed
over night before it was startlingly beautiful. We have our camping
worked out so that it is very neat and easy to manage -- and it even
looks very well -- it is also very comfortable -- It is an area
that is seldom visited by any one because the road -- well there is
no road -- we just drive up a dry river bed and I've never seen
tracks of any one having been there but myself.

Yesterday the wind blew wickedly -- we were up at
dawn so as not to miss anything both mornings -- The sand -- white
sand -- blew with the wind -- and after lunch -- during the middle
of the day it was hot -- but even when it is uncomfortable it is
so beautiful I don't mind -- It is a place where we find wonderful
rocks too --

Oh we had a wonderful time -- The nights there were
new to me. We even have to take our water and wood along.

I have starts on two paintings but they are
only starts. As soon as a good day comes we will go again -- but
it has to be a very good day.

Of course I walked and climbed miles -
We lost a kitten on the way home and had to go back to look for
it - found it - two firing pink shining eyes in the dark bushes
- then the little white head - about two miles back on the road.
- It was our best kitten too - not my favorite - but

2

the best one.

My favorite kitten is the runt of the bunch but she has a special quality that I like almost as much as that cat I had long ago at Lake George -- Well -- I'm back here -- none the worse for wear and I had a very fine time -- A letter from Dave tells me he is lt. Comdr. and is off for somewhere -- he doesn't know where -- Sounds imposing doesn't it.

Today is Marías birthday and to celebrate I taught her how to put a big patch on her favorite blue jeans that are pretty ragged, I patched mine too. My patch doesn't show but she is very proud of her first patch and wanted it to show -- a nice square patch on her right knee -- It has taken her almost all day as she never learned to sew at all -- She tried to get me to do it but I wouldn't

Well --- I hope you are getting some relief from your itch -- Saga writes me you are so miserable with it -- Maybe Moon Adams can do something if she gets back this week -- of course it takes time -- and even when all signs of it were gone you still thought it itched

-- A quiet kiss to you --

-- It is grey and threatening -- looks

like rain --

Abiquiu, N.M.

Sept. 19 -42

Alfred -- How are you?

The last letter I received was written on the
14th. I hope you are alright -- It is a still sunny morning --
so still -- when I think of the war news and the changes that
must come --- what ever they are -- I wonder how such things
can be -- This is so quiet --

I listen to the Radio news from
9 to 9:30 every night -- and more and more it gets into ones
head that a very different world is being made --

I have no news this morning except that
I had no letter -- It will probably be a bunch when it comes --

A kiss to you from very quiet - soft feeling morning
-- a still warm late summer day --

## Monday afternoon

We are at the White Place again -- Saturday at noon
the weather seemed pretty clear so we came back. We hadn't unpacked
the car so it wasn't difficult to get away -- Yesterday - Sunday
- was a fine day. I painted all day. - my morning painting pretty
good -- my afternoon painting very dull ---

With the moon getting larger every night -- the
cliffs seem brighter -- it is certainly a great sight. We are
in bed before 8 --- and I guess we stay there almost 12 hours --
I am feeling fine --

Have been working this morning on a painting
started last year -- It seems to be doing fairly well --

I'd be
very pleased with being here but it is so long since I've heard
from you I miss getting this morning's mail -- Maria is going to
walk to Abiquiu to get the mail and send this -- There is really
nothing to write but that I'm here and that it is very good --

Maria looks about and remarks "Well -- I guess I'll never
really be in a better place than this " --

and I say -- Yes --
it is good enough so that you will never be _sure_ that anything
else you ever see is better

I am very anxious to hear from you -- and
Oh -- do be careful and don't get excited over things --

These white kittens seem to belong with this
White Place -- the place is just enough off white so that there
isn't a glare --

A kiss to you

I am hot in the sun and cold in the shade -

Sunday night -- Sept. 27

Alfred -- your letter yesterday makes me very sorry for you with your itch -- saying you want to cry -- I will return to N.Y. now if you want me to but it seems there is little I could do for you now but be there. I really feel I should stay here longer -- however - if you want me to return I will. Closing up here is pretty simple -- Maria can do it --

We slept on the roof last night -- such a wonderful sky -- and such a beautiful dawn

Mary Wheelwright came late in the morning and stayed till almost supper time today -- she brought all sorts of vegetables -- We took a fine walk up into Arthur's cliff -- it was a perfect day as far as weather -- brilliantly clear and still -- When do you put Marin up? I assume he comes first. Henwar also writes how fine and clean the place is looking -- Must go to bed -- I'm sleeping on the roof again -- have a cat -- it is comfortable and my week out makes me prefer it -- The air is so good --

A good night kiss to you --

I am so sleepy --

And I want to get up early --

Mary Wheelwright is certainly a great old girl -- Maria and I say that our world is different

Monday A.M.

At the mail box -- 2 letters from you sound better than the last one -- I am relieved -- Am glad you have the moving arranged so that it bothers you less -- I slept on the roof again -- and again it is a fine day

A morning kiss to you

Tuesday A.M.

It is another fine morning -- We slept on the roof
again in our camping beds and I had a fine night -- It is so good
to wake and see the dawn coming -- it is really as good here as
any place we go to but it was fun to leave the color here and
go to the White Place where we went camping last week.

Yesterday I went out to work in the morning --- in the
afternoon just as I was starting to work indoors -- a Dorothy
Thomas and friend drove up ----- It seems that she visited you
at Lake George from Yaddo in 34 -- seems to have enjoyed her visit
to you -- she writes -- short stories I think -- she stayed so
long that there was only about an hour of daylight left ---

I made
some grape jelly while supper went on after dark --- grapes Mary
Wheelwright brought up ---

A kiss to you -- it is a fine day

Thursday afternoon -- and as I look at the calendar I see that
it is Oct. 1st, which surprises me a little -- I didn't write
yesterday -- it was a very fine warm sunny day -- In the morning
I worked in the house. -- After lunch I was so tired -- why I
don't know -- that I undressed and went to bed. I crept out at
about five -- Ila came along on horse back and as we stood
talking -- slim, who is the man taking care of horses and cows,
came along also on his horse. He hadn't had a drink of water
all day and sat with a gallon bottle of water drinking and drinking
for about an hour -- guess he drank 2/3s the bottle -- He is
very amusing -- a good old cow hand who has learned much and
been ruined by the dude business ---

Well -- when he was gone I
made biscuits for supper --- we ate and then to bed -- Today
two letters from you -- I am glad you have the moving arranged
to your satisfaction --

That you feel more quiet about it. Also
it is nice about James wanting the Dove and Goodwin paying up
on the Marin -- Things seem to move along a little --

I feel more rested today -- feel very good. Grace
Guest is lecturing with slides on Chinese Art in Santa Fe
tomorrow night -- I may go -- I sometimes think I'm getting
queer that I would so much rather stay home with the outdoors
than go see any one I know -- I may send Maria off alone -- so
I can be alone for a few days -- Richard has asked us over
there -- he has soldiers for dinner and supper and afternoon
riding and will take us up on the mountain. Aspins are turning
yellow and it would be fine --

but it would also be so fine and

quiet home alone --

I will see ----

2

If letters don't come you will know I have gone. Richard only gets mail once a week so it is no use to write there and if I go I'll stay several days.

I will see -- Will write you tomorrow what ever
I do --

Mary Wheelwright asked us to lunch -- it is her birthday --
I want to go see Cadys things that he left in his studio -- it
would be my last trip to Santa Fe till I go I think if I do go.

There is a cloud over the west as I look out --- the
first in a long time --- Maybe rain will make staying home easy
-- If I lived alone here I believe I'd get along without things
rather than go to town unless I simply had no food left -

A quiet kiss to you --

Maria says to me "Oh it will do you good
to get out and stir around among folks" makes me laugh --

Saturday A.M.

In Santa Fe -- spent the night here -- Took Grace
Guest up on the mountain for supper --- it was very pleasant

-- Had lunch with Mary -- she gave us many
fresh vegetables -- it was a good day -- The slides for the lecture
were very fine --

We go home today -- are not going to Richards --
I write this as I eat breakfast at a counter -- saw
Vernon Hunter last night

Hope all is well with you

---------- A quiet kiss to you ---

Monday -- just finished lunch and came out for the mail --
your letter of Oct. 2 and the Ellis book came -- Thank you for
both. I have not opened the book as I am writing sitting in the
car near the mail box -- It is a fine day -- warm sun -- cool
shade -- I've been painting indoors -- and it is cold but not
cold enough for a fire -- so I put on some extra clothes --
Yesterday I rested up from my town trip -- Maria read to me. I
sewed a red lining in my country pocket book -- it looks pretty
fine and neat. We finished the first volume of Fenelosa -- I am
glad to have read it ---

Had a long talk with Archie, Arthurs gardener -- many of his relatives who have worked here have gone to war -- he hasn't been called -- uneasy for months with not knowing what to do. At dusk took quite a long walk -- Going to town Friday, early, and returning Saturday night was quite a chore -- I prefer the country life up here. There are always so many errands in town. I hope not to go to Santa Fe again till I go east.

Well -- I wonder when Saga will be able to do the moving
-- when the place we are to live in will be painted. I hope
you will like it. I think you will --- but remember there is
one step in the main hall down stairs and do be careful of it --

Well --- I must get back to the house --

Thanks for the book. Do you want me to bring
it back when I come? I will if you want it --

A quiet kiss from this fresh air -- cool wind and
hot sun --

It is so lovely here now --

Good Morning

Isn't this elegant !

It is Thursday --

Richard drove over yesterday -- we had
a long fine walk and this morning are going home with him --
It
is a fine day -- we plan to be over there several days -- a
trip up into the mountains if the weather is good --

Mail does not go out from there so you
may not have letters till we return -- but it will be alright

A kiss to you

Monday

Alfred -- it is a fine still sunny morning -- I sit on Richards
front porch -- the tall trees out in front all yellow and still--
The big wide porch looks as if a cyclone had struck it -- the result
of a party yesterday for some thirty soldiers -- it was a riot --
ended with a terrific fight --

Well -- I'll not write about that
but with the warm stillness of the early morning and all the yellow
leaves about the tables full of bottles and the general mess look
very odd --

We had a lovely drive over the mountains last Thursday
- It was a wonderful day and the aspins are at their best -- the
next day Friday was quiet -- Richard went to town -- we stayed
here -- in the late afternoon we rode as we wanted to go up the
mountain next day and I wanted to ride a little before I took a
long ride --

Saturday we rode all day in the mountains -- some 25
miles I guess -- it is as good country as any high mountain country
I've seen -- half the day through a deep gorge with great rocky
walls on either side -- really vast walls -- as we rode along
a stream -- a fast mountain stream that we crossed again and
again -- then in late afternoon a very steep climb to a vast
view of miles and miles of country and finally the steep down
hill to a warm little ranch where Richards truck met us --

It was
a very fine day we all enjoyed it -- just riding -- I
had a good horse -- we talked very little - it was just a lovely
day in country as good as one finds

Yesterday - Sunday we cooked -- two turkeys - a

Well Alfred --

I am home again after five pretty lively days.
Came home through Taos - saw Spud & Beck, Mabel, Brett, Marie --
did all my years visiting in one half day --

It was amusing --
I'll write you a longer letter tonight - we were late getting
here and today has been pretty much of a scramble and now it
is late --

I am feeling fine.

The weather has turned colder --
snow on some of the mountains -- Must get this off -- I'll
write tonight --- Had 5 letters from you

A kiss -- hope your cold and
tooth are better

Do you take my pills

Alfred -- It is difficult to tell you of five days like my five
days over at Richards. I will tell you when I get home. There was
something very remarkable about it -- it wasn't Richards fault that
it was remarkable --- it was just the various turns of human doings
that were to me really a astonishing. Maria started an awful fight
then got hurt at something I said to her and went off and got into
bed and the fight went on -- She had a perfect brawl with the
soldiers but rose up in the morning remembering almost nothing about
it like a shining star as if she had had some sort of an extraordinary
bath --

Richard was shocked after a fashion and rather annoyed --
it was all fantastic -- Maria rolling around on the floor with the
bully of the whole crowd of men -- a Pittsburg Mill hand -- and I
letter her do it because in some odd way I knew it was for her --
then she would grip my hand and say -- "You know I just couldn't
stand any of it if you don't let me hold on to your hand " --
It was a most astonishing performance ending in such an awful
fight --

Well -- the day on the mountain was wonderful too --

I
haven't had such a day in a long time -- It made me feel pretty
good too that I could ride a horse all day and not get too tired
and banged up feeling from it --

Richard is very kind and thought-
ful about making things easy too.

The drive home over through Taos was fine -
gives me such an odd sense of peace as I stood up in the car and
looked out all round - the handsome, quiet mud buildings, the
yellowing big cotton wood trees by the little stream - the

2

mountain dark -- it was sun set time -- I wanted to stay there --

Then Mables house -- and Brett fat as usual --

Becks place spotless -- she looks very worne --

Marie after dark was
the prize -- we found her alone -- she was dozing by a fine red
looking fire -- everything warm and colorful under the lamp --
she fed us cold roast goose - cellery, stewed peaches -- milk
and cookies -- it was unexposed and very warm and good after our
long days fide -- the man was away till just as we were leaving
-- then our ride -- still with the top of car down -- our last 40
miles into the night.

It had been a good five days but it is very
good to be home. The weather changed with the morning from warm fall
to cold --

I am fine --

A kiss to you

Good Morning -- it is Friday -

There are great soft grey dark
clouds floating about over the tops of the cliffs -- sometimes
covering them almost to the ground -- a little mist but not real
rain --

I didn't get a letter off yesterday -- a newspaper woman
from Santa Fe came up to see me - "for a story" She came with a
painter friend at three and stayed till nearly six so the mail
time passed -- She was quite dumb but the girl with her -- a
painter was rather nice. I gave a kitten to the painter girl --
I must do something with them -- then was very sorry when they
were gone -- I believe I even shed a tear over my kitten gift --

Your letter today tells me you are moved -- but you
haven't been to 59 - 54 yet -- I look forward to your first report

I have a very bright colored painting under way after my
trip over the mountain -- it seemed that we went up to all the
color of the fall --

It is odd the way the weather here suddenly turns from
warm to cold -- just over night

My head is dull --

I had my working room cleaned up this
morning and it makes such a stir around

Maria goes to town this afternoon --- I'll be glad
to be alone -- she will not return till tomorrow

I hope the moving has not upset you -- I look forward
to tomorrows letter

A kiss to you. I hope you like your new room -

Oh Alfred ---

Painting is so difficult ! I've struggled with --

Oh -- I guess a very odd painting for days now --

It is very

gay and very difficult

The cliffs and the mountain have clouds
all about them ------ a little snow on the mountain when I can
see it at all--

It has been fine being alone all day and night and
part of yesterday -- I must say I like my own company --

I have your letter about your first night at 59 -
-- You don't sound very enthusiastic -- I am sorry --

I thought
you would like it but it probably hasn't smoothed out to anything
very pleasant yet --

About Cadys things -- I saw them unframed and
I don't see how he could do a very good job at getting them framed
by mail as he had to. He tells me I can change anything I want
to about the framing and that would undoubtedly make a difference
in the way they will look in the Place

I thought it would make a good show but if
you don't think so let it go.

Are you interested enough for me to
have the rest of them sent -- I picked out the best from stacks
and stacks of things. I may be wrong but it seemed to me a good
thing to do at this time.

Well -- its grey out and my hands are cold -- my
painting turns my stomach. Last night I picked up a March -- 1940
McBride Art Page and read it -- sitting with my cats on my lap -
alone in my big room -

2

--- It read very well --- really good -- to read -- I wonder
if you have heard of him this year -- Its Saturday afternoon 5:10
--

I'll drive out through the mist and mail this -- wondering what
you are doing and how you are

A kiss to you -

Monday P.M.

Well -- The sun has come again --- it warms the world a little but
still it is cool --

I have a little native girl again --- Maria has work
of her won she wants to do and all the house work was a little much
-- left her very little time for her own affairs. This girl is
a prize -- so wonderful to look at --- and she can do anything --
She is considered the really bad girl around here but I find her
delightful--- That is my only piece of news -- I believe they spin
yarns about her because she is so good looking --

Well -- I'll be
telling you about her -- but it will be difficult to tell of such
a person when you can not see her face and her way of walking about
and dressing herself -- she is a real prize --

Yesterday afternoon we took a long walk -- Maria
and I and the two kittens -- my kittens are really lovely -- One
female is like a white dove when you pet her -- so smooth and
fine surfaced -- My painting oh my painting is a struggle
- I put strips of wood on two small ones this morning --

The one I painted on yesterday just looks at me oddly
-- and I feel I'm pretty stupid when I look at it -
I've turned the gay one to the wall -- finsiehd for what ever it is
and they all look bad to me

How do you like being just a black from the
Place?

And are you taking those vitamine pills -- one a day -- you
should -- Tell me, - do you?

A kiss to you -- I am feeling very good
but it has taken me almost all summer to get that way

Wednesday afternoon

No letter went yesterday -- I went over to the White
Place to paint and stayed all day - We go along the river several
miles this side of Abiquiu and the trees are a fine burning yellow
-- at one paint when we first came to the river we are quite high
and you can see the river winding off among the fine yellow trees -
-- the mesas dark and straight lined, very forbidding rising up
above the river -- It is very beautiful -- really spectacular --

And the White place is just a glory with about four small trees
that have turned yellow and look very small below the queerly washed
cliffs --

It was a good day. I worked on a painting I had started
when we were camping there. It went pretty well

I am very annoyed -- just when I was finally feeling very
good I seem to have gotten a little sinus --

I would have gone back to the White Place today
if it were not for my nose --- yesterday was a fine sunny quiet
day -- almost windstill

Your letter yesterday said that you had
the men for supper Saturday night so it must be that Saga has your
pretty well settled -

This morning the Sunday Times came and I settled
down and read and read-- I felt when I put it down that I hadn't
read much that I needed to know -- New York seems so far away to
me -- it seems odd to think that I'll be moving toward that sort
of thing pretty soon --- I find it difficult to imagine --

The
sun shones. The wind blows today. The sky is very blue -- My
favorite kitten lies asleep on my bed half in the sun -- half
in the shade -- the cliffs are all bright out the window -- it is
a big wide window -- yesterday morning we had the first white

Thursday Morning

Well -- after I wrote you yesterday I got into
bed -- Maria read to me a little while -- then we had supper early
and I think I went to sleep before seven -- any way I feel better
this morning -- I got up and walked about some at about 8:30
then got back into bed----- just for luck I guess-- I am going
to get up in a few moments now -- it is after 11 -- and go out
for the mail -- I'll mail this at the same time --

It is fine
and warm in sheltered places like the patio but outside a pretty
good wind. Don't worry about me. I am alright -- just being
being careful and resting myself -- My nose and head are better-

I've been reading a little in the Ellis book
you sent me -

Am going to try to collect myself to write to
Dave -- he has written me three times and I've only sent him
a short note -- I want to write him a long letter

Wish I could look in on you and see how
you are getting along

A quiet kiss to you

Saturday afternoon --- after six -- It is late for the mail so I
drove out to the box to see if it was gone before starting to write
-- I had your letter this morning saying you like your room -- That
pleases me. I thought you would -- Tell Saga to telephone my
radio man about the radio. I will write to him also -- but it will
not go off till Monday

It has been a lovely day but windy -- My
nose is almost alright --- no more headache from it.

I have been getting all my little things
in order for leaving -- tho I'll be a few weeks yet

Cady writes me that he goes to N.Y. tomorrow
and will see you. I wish I could listen in --

The bus comes -- a kiss to you

No --

I was mistaken -- it wasn't the bus -- I've watched the sun
go from the snow topped mountains to the East -- some sixty or
seventy miles away -- it was all pink with the last sun glow --
now they become just a vague grey line

Maria has had a little cold too -- We both
hope to be recovered enough by next week to go camping for a
few days at the Black Place -- Wanted to go this week when the moon
was full -- but couldn't make it

I am glad you take that pill of mine again --I
think they are good for you

Tuesday afternoon --
and it is late -- Johnnie came driving
up and brought me a bit stone -- a queer shaped one with a
little stone leg under one end of it to hold it in position for
grinding corn -- it is quite handsome and Johnnie is very amusing --
we had tea and Maria wanted to show Johnnie her new long cleeved
long legged underwear so came prancing out in it bare footed for
tea -- the underwear is bright red -- then Johnnie must photograph
her on the roof --

the cats were afriad of his dog and fluffed
their tails in fine style -- arching their back and growling very
angrily -- they were very handsome --

-- Well finally he left -- Maria riding along with
him on an errand he has about 15 miles up the road -- some timber
land to sell or something like that --

He brought one print he had
made on some platinum paper he had coated himself - I like his
things when they are carefully done -- He has a nice feeling -
simple and direct -- is a nice kid --

Yesterday I was out working all day down near Abiquiu so no
letter got off --

Was going again this morning but when I wanted to
start the car the battery was dead -- I had left the ignition
on all night -- certainly was annoyed -- By the time I had
struggled with that and was ready to go in the other car it was
too late -- and the wind blowing too hard too -- so I stayed home.

I've been walking out for the mail the past two mornings
to see how it will be when we haven't gas enough to drive -- it is
a fine walk - I discover all sorts of things that I don't see
driving -- I must make a straight path across -- have to cross
a small stream - it is often dry but there are big trees there and

both mornings I've crossed in different places-- Oh we will learn
lots of new things with the war -

The mornings are cool and it feels fine to
get warm with the walk and the sun. I am wearing that old red
woolen dress I had at Lake George long ago. It is much admired -
I admire the fine stitches of my sewing too.

I just had a notion
that I wanted to wear a dress instead of my blue jeans

Well -- I am glad you are all moved and settled --
It was nice to have Kennerly in again after so long --

A kiss to you

I'll get out to the mail --
hope I'm not too late --

Good Morning ! Wednesday -- Oct. 28

There is snow on the cliffs to the north and the mesa
to the West as I see them from the corner room where I sleep --
there was rain in the night and the other far away heights are
still under clouds --- except to the East -- from the kitchen
-- the top of something out that way across the red hills has
patches of snow too --- It is always so exciting to me to wake
and find snow in the morning -- it is only patches of snow but
it is lovely

I didn't write yesterday -- had been so busy all
day that when it was time to write I thought I'd lie down for a
few moments first -- and I was so tired I didn't get up -- then
Herman -- one of the Spanish men came to do some little things for
me and I had to run around with him if I wanted to get things done.
He brings his whole family -- a wife -- pregnant of course -- a
girl of 17 who helps his wife -- a 7 year old son -- bright and
lively as can be and a baby 16 months -- they all sit in the kitchen
while Herman and I do things out doors --

He is 34 -- and says he
will give me his baby daughter to take to N.Y. when she is old
enough to go to school. I had to laugh -- she is such a pretty
big eyed baby -- and I told him I thought the kind of life he could
give her would be better than anything I could do for her. -- His
answer to that is "Maybe"

The kitchen is so warm and lively looking when it
is full of those people -- I like them more and more --

I did not paint yesterday --- was doing other little
things -- Oh --- maybe things that aren't important but some
way they seem to be important to me.

Maria is so big and strong

2

and healthy but some way I can get things done with my ingenuity
and will that she just can't

Maybe the trouble with me is that
I don't like to be told that anything can't be done -- She always
says--- "The war would make better headway if you got at it "

A kiss to you

Good morning -- Wednesday Oct. 28

It is a fine morning after rain off and on all day yesterday -- I worked all day and think I have a painting you will rather like -- The first time this summer that I've gone right through one in one day --

I quite like it myself -- it looks at home on my wall -- like not much of anything and yet it is something

I have no other news -- I get up at seven -- dawn is just coming -- -- -- and go to bed by nine or a little before or after -- There is a half hour of news that I listen to at 9

The sun shines today but there are still clouds about in the sky. Yesterday with the rain and snow there were some wonderful effects in the sky at times

A kiss to you -- Must get at my day --

Well I guess its Friday morning -- and it is clear and fine again -

My nose is much better -- almost alright --

spent mending -- I darned and darned -- it needed to be done and I
enjoyed it

With the evening a fine big white moon came up and we
took quite a long walk after dark --- everything was so clear and
fine -- you could see the color in the cliffs with just the moon
light.

I went out at three in the morning and walked about
again it was so beautiful

Yes ----- My nose is quite alright again

A morning kiss to you -- Yesterday I had a
letter from Louisa Golpfert -- visiting down near Albuquerque --
is coming up to see me -- yes an odd world.